Desalination, Vol.148, No.1-3, 79-85, 2002
Pervaporation as a deodorization process applied to food industry effluents: recovery and valorisation of aroma compounds from cauliflower blanching water
In the food industry, unit operations of stabilisation (such as blanching) produce aqueous effluents generally non-polluting but often odorous. The objective of this study was to apply the pervaporation process to the deodorization of a cauliflower blanching effluent in order to reduce its volatile organic compounds content and to try to recover a valuable food flavouring fraction. A systematic study of pervaporation has been performed on three sulfur compounds identified as typical compounds of the cauliflower odour. Then, the separation performances obtained on an industrial effluent were evaluated through physico-chemical and sensorial analysis. They showed that pervaporation was an efficient process for deodorization and offers a real potential for valorisation of the permeate.