Since significant percentage of fruits and vegetables go to waste during processing, investigation of how to improve the valuable products of extraction from the wastes is an undeniably effective way to save the planet. Beetroot (root, peel, and stalk) is a chief source of natural betalain color compounds and phenolic compounds with copious radical scavenging activity. The major emphasis of this work is to optimize process variables which are extraction time (10–60 min), operating temperature (20–50 °C), and aqueous ethanol solvent with the concentration of (25–75%) for effective extraction of valuable compounds such as betalains, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity from beetroot peel. Spectrophotometric analysis was applied for quantification of those compounds. Amongst which, lowest solvent concentration (25% v/v) together with the highest temperature (50 °C) and extraction time (50 min) brought yielded higher results. The process optimization was carried out using Design Expert (11.0.3) statistical software. Overall, it can be noted that extraction process can be improved by controlling operating time and temperature, avoiding unnecessary overuse of costly solvent.

The production of low-alcohol beer (LAB) or alcohol-free beer (AFB) is important because of several reasons. In this research, pale lager beer samples were dealcoholized by reverse osmosis (RO) at a temperature of 15 ± 1 °C. Alfa Laval RO99 membrane with 0.05 m2 active surface was used for dealcoholization processes. Flux values were measured during the separations. Dynamic viscosity values and ethanol content of beer and permeate samples were measured. Initial flux values were determined by linear regression. Initial ethanol flux (JEtOH 0) values were calculated from initial flux values and ethanol content values. 2P type full factorial experimental design was applied, the two factors were the following: Transmembrane Pressure (TMP): 10, 20, 30 bar and Retentate Flow Rate (Q): 120, 180, 240 L hr-1 . JEtOH 0 was considered as a response of the full factorial experimental design. The effect sizes of the significant parameters were calculated. The global maximum of the objective function was found with self-developed Grid Search code. The best fitted linear function was as follows: JEtOH 0 = 80.871 + 41.094 × xTMP The effect size of the significant parameter was the following: TMP: 1.20. The optimal value of the factor amounted to TMP = 30 bar. The predicted JEtOH 0 under the above condition was 121.965 g m-2 hr-1 . The detailed method in this study can be implemented by breweries.

Recovery of valuable products from organic wastes with conventional extraction method plus modern separation technology is becoming popular in solid waste management. The major attention of this project was to test the efficiencies of two different types of reverse osmosis membranes (RO99 and X20) on juice concentration extracted from peel of beetroot which is "waste". The extractions of beetroot peel were completed using water and ethanol-water (15 v/v%) solvents at 22 °C for 60 minutes. The applied transmembrane pressure, temperature, and recirculation flow rate of membrane separation process were 40 bars, 30 °C, and 400 L/h, respectively. Quantifications of valuable compounds were detected using spectrophotometer. The permeate flux profiles were investigated and lower permeate flux was experienced with RO99 compared to X20 in both methods. Additionally, from the aspect of efficiency, RO99 outstripped X20 membrane on concentration of some compounds such as betalains, and phenolic components. Betaxanthin, betacyanin, antioxidant and TPC contents in final retentates of RO99 membrane concentration were as follow: 292.47±1.93 mg/L, 499.03±1.3 mg/L, 1133.15±25.74 mg/L,1243.96±106.56 mg/L (water solvent) and 337.26±4.31 mg/L, 585.2±5.83 mg/L, 698.55±22.53 mg/L, 1268.87±48.69 mg/L (ethanol-water solvent), respectively. From this experiment, expectation can be made that membrane technology can widen its applications in food and pharmaceutical industries.

The scope of this study is the modeling of beer membrane filtration, focusing on fouling mechanisms. Standardized lager beer was produced for the crossflow microfiltration investigations. Pall Membralox T1-70 tubular ceramic membrane with 0.5 mu m pore size was used for filtrations. 2(p) full factorial experimental design was applied, the three factors were the following: silica gel concentration (SGC): 0, 40, 80 g hL(-1); transmembrane pressure (TMP): 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 bar, and retentate flow rate (Q): 50, 125, and 200 L h(-1). Steady-state fouling layer resistance (R-fss) was considered as the response. Analytical parameters of the rough beer and the dynamic viscosity values of the permeate samples were measured. The hydrodynamic parameters of the filtrations were determined. The parameters of the objective function were estimated, and the effect sizes were calculated. The global minimum of the objective function was found. The effect sizes of the significant parameters were the following: Q: -0.48; TMP: 0.81. The optimal values of the factors amounted to, respectively, TMP = 0.4 bar, Q = 200 L h(-1). The predicted R-fss under the above condition was 1.925677776404 x 10(12) m(-1). The detailed method in this study can be implemented by membrane researchers and breweries.

Consumer concern over artificial food additives has stimulated production of pigments from natural sources. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of process variables on the content of colour compounds (betaxanthin and betacyanin) in beetroot peel juice extracted by conventional method. In this research, the extraction processes were carried out according to the central composite design with different process variables. Quantitative measurements of the basic colour compounds in beetroot extract were performed using spectrophotometer. From our experiment, it was found that the most adequate extraction conditions, which gave the highest yield of colour compounds (952.5 mg l–1 of betaxanthin and 1361 mg l–1 of betacyanin), were extraction time 1 h, operating temperature 20 ºC, and solvent ratio 0.8 w/v. Being a conventional heating method, it is a simple and cost efficient process with relatively high yield.

Leguminous soybean (Glycine max) has a high concentration of edible protein and their bioavailability, in addition to inorganic minerals, vitamin C, vitamin K, and isoflavones. Soybean is popular for its functional ingredients and meat-like texture and flavor, despite a much lower energy density than the meat. Traditional non-fermented food products made from soybean are: soymilk, tofu, okara, soy flour, and yuba, whereas the common soybean-based fermented foods include tempeh, natto, soy sauce, miso, douchi, kinema, cheonggukjang, doenjang, kanjang, gochujang, and soy yogurt. Various bacteria, fungus, yeast, and mold are used to prepare soybean-based fermented products. Numerous research studies have confirmed that soybean-based fermented foods and peptides offer anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-angiotensin converting enzyme, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer activities. This chapter focuses on technologies for preparation of soybean-based foods through microbial fermentation process. Biological activities of soybean-based foods (produced by microbial fermentation) have also been described.

The challenges of beer microfiltration are fouling and to get decent quality. These problems can be partially eliminated with the use of Static Turbulence Promoter (STP). In this study, STP (pitch diameter ratio of 2, 13.2 mm pitch length, 6.5 mm diameter, 241 mm length, and 1.2 mm thickness), Pall Membralox T1-70 membrane, and lager beer were used for the filtrations. Experiments were performed with combinations of different parameters, such as usage of STP (No/Yes), Transmembrane Pressure (TMP) (0.4-1.2 bar), and Retentate Flow Rate (Q) (50-200 L hr(-1)). Experiments were ranked with Sum of Ranking Differences based on the analytical properties, hydrodynamic and separation characteristics parameters. The best conditions were the following: STP = Yes, TMP = 0.4 bar, Q = 50 L hr(-1); STP = No, TMP = 0.4 bar, Q = 200 L hr(-1); STP = Yes, TMP = 1.2 bar, Q = 200 L hr(-1).

In present century, upgradation of agriculture is received a great attention because they satisfy daily needs in community and sustainable economic growth. Advantageous biological activities, offered by nanomaterials, open a new horizon in agriculture. In the context of agriculture, a great revolution is development and use of agrochemicals, such as nanofertilizer and nanopesticide. Activities of nanomaterials depend on (a) size, (b) shape, (c) morphology, (d) surface porosity, (e) composition, (f) redox potential, (g) charge in surface and (h) particle aggregation. Nanofertilizers are (a) better water soluble in soil, and easily available for seed and plants, (b) faster absorbed and assimilated by germinating seed and plant, (c) controlled delivery system for fertilizers and (d) with low fertilizer wastage due to leaching, degradation by biochemical reactions (hydrolysis, photolysis and decomposition) and gas forming. Nanofertilizers promote (a) seed germination, (b) plant growth, (c) chlorophyll formation, (d) photosynthesis rate and (e) stimulate the rhizosphere/soil microflora in agricultural field. Nanopesticides are (a) better soluble in water compare to conventional hydrophobic pesticides, (b) highly bioavailable and efficient to carry pesticides, (c) controlled delivery system for pesticides and (d) with low wastage due to degradation by ultra violet light, air, moisture, high temperature, biochemical reactions and rain fastness. Nanopesticides offer (a) antibacterial, (b) antifungal and (c) antiviral activities, and protect seeds and plants. In this chapter, information about development of nanofertilizers and nanopesticides, the mechanisms of biochemical activities and their applications in agriculture are represented in comprehensive way. It is expected that this chapter will grab lots of attentions from many research communities with different backgrounds.

Removing hot and cold trub from hopped wort is important, because of yeast viability, beer filtration, quality and fermentation in Membrane Bioreactor. Trub can be removed by several methods, but Crossflow Microfiltration (CFMF) would be an alternative technology. For the filtration a wort was produced. The filtration was performed with the following parameters: temperature (10 +/- 1 degrees C), Transmembrane Pressure (0.4 bar), and Crossflow Velocity (0.4 m s(-1)). Membrane with pore size of 0.2 mu m was applied. The fluxes were determined. Particle size distributions and analytical parameters of samples were measured and retentions were calculated. The initial and steady-state fluxes were 16.75 and 4.89 L m(-2) hr(-1). According to the particle size distributions trub can be removed. Changing of the analytical parameters is appropriate, for example, retention of beta-glucan was 40.17% and Free Amino Nitrogen content did not change. CFMF is an alternative method for removing trub, but the optimization is essential. Practical applications Crossflow Microfiltration (CFMF) would be an alternative and novel technology for removal of hot trub and cold trub from hopped wort and the two processes can be performed simultaneously with the same CFMF equipment. The main advantages of the CFMF are less solid residues, lower energy consumption, lower water requirements, and microbiologically stable product. Our research has several practical applications as mentioned below. First removing at least some hot trub can decrease the production losses and improve yeast viability, beer filtration performance and the quality of finished beer, and removing at least some cold trub can improve yeast viability and the quality of finished beer. Furthermore, if primary fermentation is performed in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), wort particles (e.g., cold trub) can cause fouling. Finally, it has been proven that hot trub and cold trub can be completely removed by CFMF and the changing of the analytical parameters is appropriate.

Removing cold trub (cold break) from hopped wort is important, because of yeast viability, beer quality and less fouling during fermentation in a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR). Cold trub can be removed from hopped wort by several methods, but Crossflow Microfiltration (CFMF) would be an alternative technology. For the membrane filtration experiment a pale wort was made in pilot scale. The membrane filtration was performed with the following operating parameters: temperature (10±1°C), Transmembrane Pressure (0.4 bar) and Retentate Flow Rate (50 l/h). The size of particles in cold trub is about 0.5 µm, the nominal pore size of the used membrane was 0.2 µm. The Initial Flux and Steady State Flux of the membrane filtration were calculated. Chemical and physical properties (β-glucan content, bitterness, colour, dynamic viscosity, extract content, free amino nitrogen content, pH, turbidity, particle size distribution) of original wort and permeate samples were measured and retentions of different components (β-glucan, iso-alpha acids, extract, free amino nitrogen) were calculated. The Initial Flux and Steady State Flux of the membrane filtration were 16.75 L/(m2 h) and 4.89 L/(m2 h), respectively. Changing of the analytical parameters are appropriate, for example, retention of β-glucan was 40.17 % and free amino nitrogen content of original wort and permeate were same. According to the particle size distribution measurement cold trub can be completely removed by CFMF. CFMF is an alternative method for removing cold trub from hopped wort based on the results, but the optimization of the technology is needed for purposes of increasing Flux values and improve analytical parameters.

This study was based on the production of an alcoholic beverage from apple using laboratory pervaporation equipment. Hungarian fruit brandy is called palinka, which can be made by pot distiller or multistage distiller made of copper. In case of traditional pot still distillation the final product is gained from two separate distillations. Pervaporation is an energy efficient membrane process for separating liquid mixtures. Application of pervaporation to separate the product of the initial distillation leads to lower energy consumption than using double-distillation process. The aim of our work was to develop an alternative technology for the production of palinka that integrates distillation and pervaporation.

Our experiments were based on a model solution containing five of the main pineapple aroma components. Both sweeping-gas pervaporation and vacuum-pervaporation methods were carried out. Measurements were performed at different temperatures and feed flow rates. The purposes of this study were to examine applicability of the two pervaporation methods in reference to the pineapple aroma recovery, the effects of the operating parameters on the process, and modelling the pervaporation process by resistance-in-series model. Higher enrichment could be reached with vacuum-pervaporation than the sweeping-gas method. The separation process is determined by the diffusion of compounds in the membrane, thus the resistance in the boundary layer at liquid side is negligible. Based on performed experiments, the pervaporation process can be applied in beverage industry for aroma recovery.

The aim of our study was to examine applicability of pervaporation in reference to the apple aroma recovery and the effects of the operating parameters on the process. Based on performed experiments the pervaporation, as membrane process, may be capable to reduce the loss of aroma compounds in the beverages production, due to its low operating temperature and high aroma recovery efficiency so organoleptic characteristics of the products would satisfy the growing consumer expectations as well. The studied main aroma compounds were i-amyl-alcohol, ethanol, butanol, i-butanol, ethyl-acetate, which could be separated with high selectivity. The values of activation energy of investigated compounds follow their order of polarity that requires further investigation. The data were analysed statistically, which showed negligible effects of flow-rate and initial concentration on the process.

One of the most important enriching materials at the processing of alimentary pastes is the egg, which usage is limited because of its water content. Removing water from liquid whole egg with membrane processes, such as ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) was applied for raising the solid content at a temperature of 25 degrees C at constant flow rate. The separation procedures were carried out on laboratory scale equipments. The initial solid content of the liquid whole egg was 24 refractive (Ref%). The effects of different recirculation flow rates and transmembrane pressure differences were investigated on the permeate flux of the liquid egg. The product had up to 30, 35.5 and 36 Ref% solids in case of UF, NF and RO, respectively. From the resistance data it is obvious, that the polarization layer resistances (R-P) determine the values of the permeate flux. The total solid content of permeate was 0.3 and 0.1 Ref% in case of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, respectively. On the basis of experiments main data of a continuous pilot scale system were calculated and simplified cost estimation was performed using recent economic data of year 2011.

Milk whey is produced in large amounts in the dairy industry; it is the milk serum that is obtained during the manufacture of cheese after separation of casein and fat during milk coagulation and viewed until recently as one of the major problematic disposal. Usually this by-product is discharged into the sewage causing heavy load for the wastewater treatment plants although it contains valuable components like lactose, proteins, vitamin B and C, vitamin B2 and lactofl avin. The major protein fractions in whey are beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, bovine serum albumin and immunoglobulin (Haug et al., 2007). Whey Protein Concentrates (WPC), sometimes called as muscle protein in some parts of the world, are nothing but powders made by drying the retentates from ultrafi ltration (UF) of whey. The performance of microand ultrafi ltration can be enhanced through combination with other unit operations. In earlier publications it was reported that the combination of a tube membrane and a static mixer can increase the effi ciency of the process. Hiddink et al. (1980) and later Krstic et al. (2004) observed an increase in permeate fl ux and reduction of operation costs of microand ultrafi ltration of milk when static turbulence promoter (Kenics-type) was installed in the system. The same results were reached but with different turbulence promoters and membranes by Waal and Racz (1989), Gupta et al. (1995), Bellhouse et al. (2001) and Costigan et al. (2002). The authors of this paper also studied the phenomena with ceramic tube membranes and stable oil-in-water emulsion and published the results as well (Hu et al., 2003; Koris et al., 2007). ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER

A kutatas 4 eves időszaka alatt megvalositottuk a munkatervben meghatarozott feladatokat. A kovetkező temakorokben vegeztunk kutatasokat es ertunk el nemzetkozileg is elismert eredmenyeket: 1. Feketeribiszke-le, malnale es bodzale besűritese integralt membran műveletekkel 2. Homoktovis-le koncentralasanak kidolgozasa 3. Csokkentett nyomasu membranszűres alapjainak kidolgozasa 4. A membranon keresztuli anyagtranszport matematikai modellezese, az optimalis műveleti parameterek meghatarozasa 5. Pervaporacio alkalmazasa aromakomponensek kinyeresere Osszefoglalaskent megallapithato, hogy a kutatas negy eve sikeres volt, mert a temahoz kapcsolodoan 13 folyoiratcikket publikaltunk (ebből 8 impakt faktoros), hazai es nemzetkozi konferenciakon is ismertettuk eredmenyeinket, a konferencia-kiadvanyokban 20 teljes anyag es 19 absztrakt jelent meg. A temahoz kapcsolodoan tobb mint 15 TDK es diplomamunka keszult el, es 4 PhD dolgozat (Rektor Attila, Banvolgyi Szilvia, Vincze Ivetta, Kozak Aron) alapjaul szolgalo kiserleti meresek fejeződtek be. | In the 4 years of this research project the obligations were completed. The topic of the researches what were carried out were the following: 1. Concentration of blackcurrant-, raspberry-, elderberry juice using integrated membrane process 2. Concentration of sea-buckthorn juice by membrane filtration 3. Developing the basics of reduced pressure membrane filtration technique 4. Mathematical modelling of the mass transfer through the membrane and determine the optimal operating parameters 5. Recovery of aroma compounds by pervaporation On the basis of the results it can be concluded that the research work in the past four years period was successfull. 13 articles (8 with impact factor) has been published in different journals. The results were presented at numerous national and international conferences, 20 full papers and 19 abstracts were published in the Proceedings of the conferences. For 4 PhD dissertation (Rektor Attila, Banvolgyi Szilvia, Vincze Ivetta, Kozak Aron) the experimental work has been carried out in the frame of the research. More than 15 MSc thesis is related to the topics of this research work.

Clarification and dehydration processes are generally employed to produce high-quality crude palm oil (CPO). In this work, superhydrophobic hollow fiber polypropylene (PP) membrane is used to perform a simultaneous clarification and dehydration. The effect of transmembrane pressure (TMP), temperature, and water content on the membrane performance are investigated. Results indicate that the permeate flux was increased with the increase of TMP and temperature. However, the permeate flux was decreased with the increase of water content. Meanwhile, the water removal was slightly affected by those parameters. The superhydrophobic PP membrane can produce CPO with 59% non-dissolved solid removal, >99% water removal, and 47% clarity improvement (at 40 °C and 2 bar TMP). In addition, it was found that the fouling mechanism was dominated by cake filtration. Air scouring could be effectively used to recover the membrane flux with a flux recovery ratio of 90% (backflush duration = 5 min, filtration cycle = 2).

Absorption Of SO2 from SO2/air mixture into sodium citrate buffer solution was performed using air-lift-tube (ALT) absorbers in laboratory and pilot scale. The aim of the study was to improve the efficiency of this regenerative process, to find the proper operation conditions in the air-lift-tube absorbers, and to contribute to the application of this process in the industry. The SO2-removal efficiency was measured while the gas velocity, the inlet SO2 concentration, the liquid hold-up, the sodium citrate buffer concentration and the liquid temperature were changed according to experimental design.Furthermore, the influence of oxidation on the SO2-removal efficiency was measured using SO2/N-2 mixture instead Of SO2/air mixture; the effect of stoichiometric ratio was investigated and the SO2 removal in one and two stages of tube absorbers was measured. The performance of the laboratory and pilot scale ALT absorbers was compared with that of other laboratory and pilot size absorption columns and of some non-regenerative methods. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.