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Novel Procedure for Lager Beer Clarification and Stabilization Using Sequential Enzymatic, Centrifugal, Regenerable PVPP and Crossflow Microfiltration Processing

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Abstract

In this work, the crossflow microfiltration (CFMF) performance of different lots of lager beer, produced in a pilot scale at the Italian Brewing Research Centre (CERB, Perugia, Italy), was assessed in a bench-top plant, equipped with a 0.8-μm ceramic tubular membrane module, under constant crossflow velocity of 6 m s−1, transmembrane pressure difference of 3.74 bar, temperature of ~10 °C, and periodic CO2 backflushing. By feeding different beer samples (i.e., as such, precentrifuged (C), or pretreated with a commercial enzyme preparation to degrade the original arabinoxylans and β-glucans and then centrifuged (EC) to minimize the fouling contribution of yeast cells, aggregates, and polysaccharides), it was possible to increase the average permeation flux (expressed as mean value ± standard deviation) from 112 ± 13 to 199 ± 17 or 330 ± 22 L m−2 h−1, respectively. Only when using the EC-pretreated beer specimens, the permeate turbidity at 20 °C approached the limiting one (<0.6 EBC unit) recommended by the European Brewery Convention standards. As expected, the permeate chill haze at 0 °C was generally higher than the above haze target. By submitting EC-pretreated beer seeded with 0.5 g L−1 of regenerable polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) to CFMF, it was possible to reduce the initial total polyphenol content by 30 % and permeate chill haze to 0.60 ± 0.01 EBC unit, but the average permeation flux fell to 84 ± 4 L m−2 h−1. By performing sequentially EC pretreatments, PVPP stabilization, cartridge filtration, and CFMF, it was possible not only to re-enhance the average permeation flux at about 230 L m−2 h−1 near to those achievable with DE filters, but also to obtain a chill haze-free permeate ready for aseptic packaging.

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Abbreviations

A :

Alcohol content of beer (% v/v)

A m0 :

Initial membrane surface area (m2)

BG:

β-Glucan content of beer (g m−3)

C:

Beer color (EBC unit)

CFMF:

Crossflow microfiltration

DE:

Diatomaceous earth or kieselguhr

EBC:

European Brewery Convention

H :

Beer turbidity [EBC unit]

i :

Index expressing the generic i-th instantaneous value of any dependent variable y j to be used in Eqs. (5) and (6)

J * :

Quasi-steady-state permeation flux (L m−2 h−1)

J v :

Instantaneous volumetric permeation flux (L m−2 h−1)

j :

Generic dependent variable to be fitted by the fouling model used here

k CF :

Cake filtration constant (s m−2)

L W :

Membrane constant for water transport (L m−2 h−1 bar−1)

MSPE j :

Generic j-th mean squared percentage error, as defined by Eq. (6)

N :

Number of experimental data

OE:

Beer original extract [°Plato]

PVPP:

Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone

r 2 :

Coefficient of determination

R irr :

Irreversible fouling resistance (m−1)

R m :

Intrinsic membrane resistance (m−1)

Rrev :

Reversible fouling resistance (m−1)

R T :

Overall membrane resistance (m−1)

RB:

Rough beer

RE:

Beer real extract (°Plato)

s 2 j :

Generic j-th residual variance, as defined by Eq. (5)

T :

Process temperature (°C)

t :

Process time (s or h)

TMPD:

Transmembrane pressure difference (bar)

TP:

Total phenol content (mg L−1)

V :

Cumulative volume of filtrate (L)

v S :

Crossflow velocity (m s−1)

y j :

Generic j-th dependent variable

η:

Filtrate dynamic viscosity (mPa s)

ρ:

Density of filtrate (kg L−1)

av:

Average

calc:

Calculated

exp:

Experimental

J :

Referred to permeation flux

V :

Referred to volume

0:

Initial

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Italian Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, special grant PRIN 2010-2011—prot. 2010ST3AMX_003.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department for Innovation in the Biological, Agrofood and Forestry Systems, University of Tuscia, Via S. C. de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Alessio Cimini & Mauro Moresi

  2. Italian Brewing Research Centre (CERB), University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo, 06126, Perugia, Italy

    Ombretta Marconi & Giuseppe Perretti

Authors
  1. Alessio Cimini
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  2. Ombretta Marconi
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  3. Giuseppe Perretti
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  4. Mauro Moresi
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Correspondence to Mauro Moresi.

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Cimini, A., Marconi, O., Perretti, G. et al. Novel Procedure for Lager Beer Clarification and Stabilization Using Sequential Enzymatic, Centrifugal, Regenerable PVPP and Crossflow Microfiltration Processing. Food Bioprocess Technol 7, 3156–3165 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1306-x

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