Food, organic and pharmaceutical applications

This chapter provides a catch-all covering applications for which no or minimal sample preparation is required. More complex applications (forensic, biomedical and environmental) for which sample preparation are often a critical step are dealt with in Chapters 10 and 11. 

---

FOOD, ORGANIC AND PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS 123 Products or formulations ... 

Iron oxides are widely used in cosmetics, foods, and pharmaceutical applications as colorants and UV absorbers. As inorganic colorants they are becoming of increasing importance as a result of the limitations affecting some synthetic organic dyestuffs. However, iron oxides also have restrictions in some countries on the quantities that may be consumed and technically their use is restricted because of their limited color range and their abrasiveness. 

Other applications of NF membrane include organics removal from surface water, radium removal from ground water, sulfate removal from seawater, and food and pharmaceutical applications such as concentration of dilute solutions and desalting of cheese whey. 

In the early years of the chemical industry, use of biological agents centered on fermentation (qv) techniques for the production of food products, eg, vinegar (qv), cheeses (see Milk and milk products), beer (qv), and of simple organic compounds such as acetone (qv), ethanol (qv), and the butyl alcohols (qv). By the middle of the twentieth century, most simple organic chemicals were produced synthetically. Fermentation was used for food products and for more complex substances such as pharmaceuticals (qv) (see also Antibiotics). Moreover, supports were developed to immobilize enzymes for use in industrial processes such as the hydrolysis of starch (qv) (see Enzyme applications). 

Applications Membranes create a boundary between different bulk gas or hquid mixtures. Different solutes and solvents flow through membranes at different rates. This enables the use of membranes in separation processes. Membrane processes can be operated at moderate temperatures for sensitive components (e.g., food, pharmaceuticals). Membrane processes also tend to have low relative capital and energy costs. Their modular format permits rehable scale-up and operation. This unit operation has seen widespread commercial adoption since the 1960s for component enrichment, depletion, or equilibration. Estimates of annual membrane module sales in 2005 are shown in Table 20-16. Applications of membranes for diagnostic and bench-scale use are not included. Natural biological systems widely employ membranes to isolate cells, organs, and nuclei. 

---