Introduction to Membrane Separation of Bioactive Compounds; Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Today, membrane technologies are emerging techniques as efficient protocols in multiple types of separation, including chemical compounds, solvents, biomolecules, salts, ions, among others. So far, it is likely that standard membrane-based technologies driven by pressure, such as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF), have been mainly explored in the separation of biologically active compounds and food ingredients from natural products. More emergently, fractionation and concentration of bioactive compounds, such as phenolic compounds from agro-food wastes and by-products, can also be done via membrane technologies. At this point, such technologies have been fully involved within valorization and recycling protocols of various by-products. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the main agro-food by-products processed by membrane technologies for the recovery of phenolic compounds, their derivatives of different molecular weight and some other compounds. An introduction is provided in terms of separation processes, molecule properties, membrane features and other interesting phenomena that occur during their extraction. To finalize, the current challenges of membrane technologies in bioactive separation are elucidated.