In this work, milk protein concentrate (MPC) was made using Toothbrushes wide-pore negatively charged ultrafiltration membranes.The charged membranes were used for a six-fold volume concentration of skim milk and subsequent diafiltration to mimic the industrial MPC process.The charged 100 kDa membranes had at least a four-fold higher permeate flux at the same protein recovery as unmodified 30 kDa membranes, which are currently used in the dairy industry to make MPC.By placing a negative charge on the surface of an ultrafiltration membrane, the negatively charged proteins were rejected by electrostatic repulsion 70s Slingback Clog and not simply size-based sieving.
Mass balance models of concentration and diafiltration were developed and the calculations matched the experimental observations.This is the first study to use wide-pore charged tangential-flow membranes for MPC manufacturing.Additionally, a unique mass balance model was applied, which accurately predicted experimental results.