Classical and Recent Applications of Membrane Processes in the Food Industry

Membrane processes are extensively used in the food industry, especially in the dairy, wine and beer, fruit juice, and sugar industries. In the dairy industry, removal of bacteria and spores from skim milk (cold pasteurization), separation of casein micelles, separation and fractionation of fat globules from whole milk, concentration and demineralization of whey and milk ultrafiltration permeate, fractionation of whey proteins, and desalination of whey membrane processes are realized by membrane processes. In the wine and beer industry, cross-flow of wines and beer clarification and stabilization of wines by electrodialysis are of common use. Fruit juice processing involves clarification, concentration, and deacidification. In the sugar industry, purification and demineralization are realized by membrane processes. This review presents these membrane processes by focusing on the main parameters and phenomena like permeation flux, selectivity, and fouling of membranes. Innovative pilot designs and cleaning methods are presented. The potentials of more unusual techniques like membrane emulsification and electrodialysis of organic acids from fermentation broth are also underlined. A specific attention is paid to the recent development of membrane processes in the food industries.