Clarification of apple juice using cold plasma treated mixed cellulose esters membrane: Flux modeling, membrane fouling, and juice physicochemical properties evaluation

This study aimed to clarify apple juice using unmodified and low-pressure cold plasma (gas: air, power: 10 W, and exposure time: 180 s) surface-modified mixed cellulose esters (MCE) microfiltration membranes. The effect of feed pressure (20, 40, and 60 kPa), feed flow rate (10, 15, and 20 mL/s), and feed temperature (27 and 40 °C) on the permeate flux was evaluated using response surface methodology (RSM). The binary interaction of feed pressure and temperature and the second-order (non-linear) interaction of feed pressure and flow rate had a significant effect on the permeate flux ( P < 0.05 ). Generally, the process at 60 kPa, 15 mL/s, and 40 °C resulted in the maximum permeate flux. The cold plasma surface modification of the MCE membrane increased the permeate flux by about 45% at the optimum process conditions. Evaluation of membrane fouling showed that the cake formation was the predominant membrane fouling mechanism during both membrane processing. The physicochemical properties evaluation revealed that the surface-modified membrane produced clarified apple juice with antioxidant activity, reducing sugars, total sugars, phenolic, and vitamin C contents about 18.87%, 12.9%, 15.49%, 24.53%, and 45.15% more than clarified apple juice produced with unmodified MCE membrane, respectively. • Apple juice was clarified by a cold plasma surface-treated microfiltration membrane. • The process parameters of apple juice clarification were optimized by RSM. • The clarified apple juice using the surface-modified membrane had higher quality.