Evaluation of hybrid pressure-driven and osmotically-driven membrane process for non-thermal production of apple juice concentrate

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of hybrid membrane processes including microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF) and forward osmosis (FO) for non-thermal concentration of apple juice. The process performance and characteristics (physicochemical properties, nutritional and aroma components and microbiological quality) of apple juice were studied. The clarity of apple juice was significantly promoted as pore size of membrane reduced. MF and UF can also ensure microbiological safety in pre-treated apple juice. According to its efficiency of filtration as well as performance of simultaneous clarification and cold-sterilization, 0.22 μm MF membrane was identified as the optimal membrane for the pre-treatment. The pre-treated apple juice can be concentrated up to 65°Brix by subsequent single stage FO. FO retained nutritional and volatile compounds of apple juice while significant reductions were found in the juice concentrated by vacuum evaporation. Hybrid MF-FO can be a promising non-thermal technology to produce apple juice concentrate with high quality.