ULTRA FILTRATION

The term ultrafiltration was used by Bechhold in 1907 to distinguish this process from the filtration technique in which larger particles (>1 mm) are separated. UF offers the possibility to concentrate high molecular weight components without the application of heat and phase change.

Filtrate; It contains small molecular weight components found in food in a ratio close to their concentration in the feed, while high molecular weight components are retained by the membrane. This causes an increase in both the wet and dry weights of high molecular weight components in solution. In UF applications, the pressure is between 1-15 bar. These pressure values are quite small compared to TO applications.

Concentration process for heat sensitive molecules such as protein and starch at ambient temperature with UF technique minimizes thermal reactions that negatively affect their functional properties such as solubility, foam and gel formation capacity, emulsification, water and oil binding. In addition, UF is also used to recover useful components in food processing and fermentation wastes. For this purpose, it is mostly used in the dairy industry.