Membrane processes in agro-food - State-of-the-art and new opportunities

Membrane technology is a still evolving technology that finds more and more applications in food and non-food processing. Compared with food industries, the introduction of membrane technology in other branches is relatively slow. This slow introduction may be related to the special requirements in this particular industry. However, newly developed membranes and process engineering breakthroughs will facilitate the further incorporation of membrane technology in industry. The need for sustainability gives rise to an extra driving force for further developments. In combination with bio technology, integrated 'membrane-biotechnology', so far unattainable, products can be manufactured. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. AU rights reserved.