Improvement of electrodialytic processes performances for biofood applications using innovative electric current conditions

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Despite strong potential applications in the food, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, a common problem with electrodialytic processes is membrane fouling. The most problematic ion-exchange membrane (IEM) fouling issues are scaling and fouling by peptides and proteins. Therefore, our research program seeks to understand how membrane characteristics and current mode conditions influence fouling and migration of food matrix components, as well as electroconvective vortex formation when biofood matrices undergo electrodialysis. The hypothesis of this research project is that the current mode (continuous current, reverse polarity (RP) and pulsed electric field (PEF)), current regime (underlimiting, limiting and overlimiting), current mode parameters (pulse/pause combinations, RP duration) and physicochemical characteristics of the membranes (nanopore size and distribution, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, ion-exchange capacity) affect the transport of food matrix components (mineral, peptides and proteins), their potential interactions with membranes and the resulting bioactivities of peptide fractions after application of electrodialytic processes. We defined three specific objectives for the proposed 5-year research program to answer this hypothesis according to the most problematic fouling type(s) related to each electrodialytic process: 1) To study the effects of the physicochemical characteristics of IEMs and PEF conditions on the formation of electroconvective vortices and IEM fouling mechanisms by food matrix components (mineral and peptides) during conventional electrodialysis (ED); 2) To study the impact of current modes and parameters on peptide fouling, migration selectivity, recovery yields and resulting bioactivities during electrodialysis with filtration membranes and 3) To understand the impact of PEF parameters on the prevention of mineral and protein fouling of membranes during electrodialysis with bipolar membranes. This research program will allow a better understanding of the relationships between food matrix components/nature of potential fouling, membrane characteristics/fouling prevention and current modes/fouling mitigation, as well as help to prevent membrane fouling in future and existing applications. It will also provide pertinent information about scaling up electrodialytic processes in terms of fouling prevention, and will highlight new areas of research and applications of the technology in the field of functional food and nutraceuticals. This research program will lead to a major breakthrough in scientific knowledge and research, not only for Canadian industries but also internationally and will be a unique opportunity to train needed highly qualified personnel.