Abstract #M4

# M4
Forward osmosis concentration of skim and whole milk at different temperatures: effect on flux and milk powder quality.
A. Beldie*1, C. I. Moraru1, 1Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Milk concentration is typically achieved either by thermal evaporation or reverse osmosis (RO). Thermal evaporation leads to cooked flavor and color changes, and it is energy intensive. Additionally, thermal evaporators are prone to fouling and biofilm formation. On the other hand, RO is affected by fouling, which limits the achievable concentration level. The main objective of this work was to evaluate forward osmosis (FO) as an alternative method for concentrating milk, at different temperatures. Another objective was to assess the quality of milk powders obtained by spray drying the FO concentrates. Pasteurized skim and whole milk (Cornell Dairy, Ithaca, NY) was concentrated at 4°C, 15°C and 25°C, in triplicate, using a laboratory scale FO unit (Ederna, France), equipped with a polymeric membrane. Concentrates were dried using a lab-scale spray drier (Armfield, UK). Data were analyzed statistically by one-way ANOVA. For skim milk, water flux at the beginning of the process (15–20 min) was 2.21 ± 1.64 L/(m2h) at 25°C, 2.98 ± 0.62 L/(m2h) at 15°C, and 2.52 ± 0.39 L/(m2h) at 4°C. These values were not statistically different (P > 0.05). Comparable initial fluxes were obtained for whole milk: 2.29 ± 0.94 L/(m2h) at 25°C, 2.67 ± 0.26 L/(m2h) at 15°C and 2.59 ± 0.23 L/(m2h) at 4°C. Flux decreased with time under all processing conditions. Flux drop was less pronounced at higher temperatures for both skim and whole milk: for whole milk, the flux after 8h reached 52% of the initial flux at 25°C, 30% at 15°C and 24% at 4°C. Higher temperatures also allowed faster FO concentration. For skim milk, 40°Bx was reached after 7h at 25°C, after 8.5h at 15°C and after ~10h at 4°C. Whole milk concentration was slower, with 30°Bx achieved after ~7h at 25°C, 8h at 15°C and ~9h at 4°C. No differences in reconstitution behavior were observed for skim powders obtained from FO concentrates vs thermal concentrates. Slight differences in color were observed, but they were not significant (P > 0.1). These results demonstrate that FO is a viable method for nonthermal concentration of milk, able to achieve concentration factors higher than RO, comparable to thermal evaporation.

Key Words: forward osmosis, milk concentration, nonthermal processing