Current Status of Membrane Technology Application and Practical Use in Food Industry in NIIGATA

Abstract

For more than three decades, membrane technology has drawn keen attention and has been applied to various fields in food industry in Japan. The Research Association of Membrane Technology for Food Industry (MRA), which was established by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery in 1982, continued the activity to accelerate the spread of membrane technology for 6 years. In 1989, Membrane Research Circle of Food (MRC) was established by the researchers and technologists in industry-government-academia. Watanabe, one of the present authors, who worked for Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery at that time, participated in the activity as an executive committee member of MRA and as a chairperson of MRC, respectively. In 1996, one year after Watanabe moved to Niigata University as a professor of food engineering, Food Engineering Division in Food Research Laboratory in Niigata Prefecture was established. In 1997, when MRC 10th Autumn Workshop was held in Niigata, Membrane Application Research Circle (MARC) for food industry in Niigata was established. The research to apply membrane technology to food industry in Niigata started with collaboration among local companies just after Watanabe's coming to Niigata University. The establishment of MARC accelerated the widespread of knowledge of membrane technology. The research projects in the authors' laboratory and companies were: 1.Establishment of clarification and recycle system for rice washing drainage from packed rice cake manufacturing plant, 2.Establishment of concentration and recycle system for pickles seasoning drainage, 3.Development of squeeze and clarification technology of soy-sauce fermented broth by micro-fiber cloth for direct membrane filtration, 4.Gamma-Amino butyric acid production using clarification with membrane, 5.Sterilized and clarified raw soy-sauce production by ceramic MF membrane Under present circumstances, the research subjects of No.4 and No.5 came successfully into practical use.