• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.151-160
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• 1998

Tangerine peel is mostly discarded as waste in citrus processing. However, tangerine peel contains besides dietary fibers bioflavonoids such as naringin and hesperidin which act as antimicrobials and blood pressure depressants, respectively. A continuous membrane separation process was optimized for the production of bioflavonoids relative to feed flow rate, transmembrane pressure, temperature, and pH. The tangerine peel was blended with 7.5 times water volume and the extract was prefiltered through a prefiltration system. The prefiltered extract was ultrafiltered in a hollow fiber membrane system. The flux and feed flow rate didn't show any apparent correlation, but we could observe a mass-transfer controlled region of over 8 psi. When temperature increased from $9^{\circ}C\;to\;25^{\circ}C$, the flux increased about $10\;liters/m^2/min\;(LMH)$ but between $25^{\circ}C\;and\;33^{\circ}C$, the flux increased only 2 LMH. At every transmembrane pressure, the flux of pH 4.8 was the most highest and the flux at pH 3.0 was lower than that of pH 6.0, 7.0, or 9.0. Therefore, the optimum operating conditions were 49.3 L/hr. 10 psi, $25^{\circ}C$, and pH 4.8. Under the optimum conditions, the flux gradually decreased and finally reached a steady-state after 1 hr 50 min. The amount of dietary fibers in 1.0 g retentate in each separation step was analyzed and bioflavonoids concentration in each permeate was measured. The contents of total dietary fiber in the 170 mesh retentate and soluble dietary fiber in the prefiltered retentate were the highest. Naringin and hesperidin concentration in the permeate were $0.45{\sim}0.65\;mg/g\;and\;5.15{\sim}6.86\;mg/g$ respectively, being $15{\sim}22$ times and $79{\sim}93$ times higher than those in the tangerine peel. Therefore, it can be said that PM 10 hollow fiber membrane separation system may be a very effective method for the recovery of bioflavonoids from tangerine peel.