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Effect of added salt and increase in ionic strength on skim milk electroacidification performances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2001

LAURENT BAZINET
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food Research and Development Centre, 3600 Casavant Blvd. West, St Hyacinthe (Québec), Canada, J2S 8E3
DENIS IPPERSIEL
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food Research and Development Centre, 3600 Casavant Blvd. West, St Hyacinthe (Québec), Canada, J2S 8E3
CHRISTINE GENDRON
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food Research and Development Centre, 3600 Casavant Blvd. West, St Hyacinthe (Québec), Canada, J2S 8E3
BEHZAD MAHDAVI
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Technologies Électrochimiques et des Électrotechnologies d'Hydro-Québec, 600 Avenue de la Montagne, Shawinigan, (Québec), Canada, G9N 7N5
JEAN AMIOT
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherche en Sciences et Technologie du Lait (STELA), Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy (Québec), Canada, G1K 7P4
FRANÇOIS LAMARCHE
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food Research and Development Centre, 3600 Casavant Blvd. West, St Hyacinthe (Québec), Canada, J2S 8E3

Abstract

Bipolar-membrane electroacidification (BMEA) technology, which uses the property of bipolar membranes to split water and the demineralization action of cation-exchange membranes (CEM), was tested for the production of acid casein. BMEA has numerous advantages in comparison with conventional isoelectric precipitation processes of proteins used in the dairy industry. BMEA uses electricity to generate the desired ionic species to acidify the treated solutions. The process can be precisely controlled, as electro-acidification rate is regulated by the effective current density in the cell. Water dissociation at the bipolar membrane interface is continuous and avoids local excess of acid. In-situ generation of dangerous chemicals (acids and bases) reduces the risks associated with the handling, transportation, use and elimination of these products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of BMEA in different conditions of added ionic strength (μadded = 0, 0·25, 0·5 and 1·0 M) and added salt (CaCl2, NaCl and KCl).The combination of KCl and μadded = 0·5 M gave the best results with a 45% decrease in energy consumption. The increased energy efficiency was the result of a decrease in the anode/cathode voltage difference. This was due to an increase of conductivity, produced by addition of salt, necessary to compensate for the lack of sufficiently mobile ions in the skim milk. However, the addition of salts, irrespective of type or ionic strength, increased the required operation time. The protein profile of isolates were similar under all experimental conditions, except at 1·0 M-CaCl2.

Type
Original article
Copyright
Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2001

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