Fabrication and Performance of Low-Fouling UF Membranes for the Treatment of Isolated Soy Protein Solutions

Consumers are becoming more conscious about the need to include functional and nutritional foods in their diet. This has increased the demand for food extracts rich in proteins and peptides with physiological effects that are used within the food and pharmaceutical industries. Among these protein ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 13; no. 24; p. 13682
Main Authors Garcia-Castello, Esperanza M., Rodriguez-Lopez, Antonio D., Barredo-Damas, Sergio, Iborra-Clar, Alicia, Pascual-Garrido, Jairo, Iborra-Clar, Maria Isabel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2021
Subjects
Carbohydrates
Cellulose acetate
Efficiency
Environmental impact
Fabrication
Food industry
Fouling
Fractionation
Laboratories
Macromolecules
Membrane processes
Membrane separation
Membranes
Minerals
Peptides
Pharmaceutical industry
Physiological effects
Polyethersulfones
Polyethylene glycol
Polymers
Pore size
Proteins
Solvents
Ultrafiltration
Germany
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Summary:Consumers are becoming more conscious about the need to include functional and nutritional foods in their diet. This has increased the demand for food extracts rich in proteins and peptides with physiological effects that are used within the food and pharmaceutical industries. Among these protein extracts, soy protein and its derivatives are highlighted. Isolated soy protein (ISP) presents a protein content of at least 90%. Wastewaters generated during the production process contain small proteins (8–50 kDa), and it would be desirable to find a recovery treatment for these compounds. Ultrafiltration membranes (UF) are used for the fractionation and concentration of protein solutions. By the appropriate selection of the membrane pore size, larger soy proteins are retained and concentrated while carbohydrates and minerals are mostly recovered in the permeate. The accumulation and concentration of macromolecules in the proximity of the membrane surface generates one of the most important limitations inherent to the membrane technologies. In this work, three UF membranes based on polyethersulfone (PES) were fabricated. In two of them, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added in their formulation to be used as a fouling prevention. The membrane fouling was evaluated by the study of flux decline models based on Hermia’s mechanisms.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su132413682