Behavior and rejection mechanisms of fruit juice phenolic compounds in model solution during nanofiltration

- Behaviors of six fruit phenolics model solution in two NF membranes were studied.
- Rejections can be affected by filtration conditions and membrane properties.
- In QSAR models, μ, LogP and Xpcv were the most significant molecular parameters.
- QSAR models can be successfully used to predict the rejection for NF of phenolics.

Behavior and rejection mechanisms of typical phenolic compounds in fruit juice during nanofiltration (NF) are not clear. Because the system of actual fruit juice is very complex, in this study, rejection mechanisms of six typical fruit juice phenolic compounds in model solutions with two NF membranes were investigated. Molecular structure parameters of these phenolics, such as hydrophobic properties, electrical parameters, and spatial parameters on the process were considered in a general quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) model. Principal component analysis and partial least square regression were used to find the relationships between rejection and molecular parameters. Results showed that NF performances of phenolics could be affected by filtration operating conditions, membrane properties and molecular parameters. In QSAR models, dipole moment, acidity coefficient, Octanol-water partition coefficient and fifth-order path cluster molecules connectivity index were the most important molecular parameters, and correlation coefficients for two membranes were 0.895 and 0.833, respectively. QSAR models can be successfully applied to predict the rejection for NF of fruit juice phenolics model solution.