Cold sterilization and process modeling of tender coconut water by hollow fibers

Tender coconut water is one of the popular sport drinks. In this paper, cold sterilization of tender coconut water was undertaken using hollow fiber ultrafiltration. Experiments were conducted at different transmembrane pressures in the range of 21-193 kPa and cross flow rate 5-15 l/h to optimize the operating conditions. A simple resistance-in-series model was used to quantify the flux decline behavior. A mathematical criterion between the operating conditions was derived for limiting flux. This is of immense importance for process modeling, scaling up and control of operating conditions of such systems. Various parameters of the feed and permeate, namely, total soluble solids, pH, clarity, concentration of sodium, potassium, polyphenol, protein and total solids were monitored. A subsequent storage study was undertaken and it was observed that the filtered juice was successfully stored for 18 weeks. This study was adequately backed up by conducting a taste analysis.