Progressive Freeze-Concentration of Model Liquid Food

Abstract

Progressive freeze-concentration utilizes the concentration phenomena of a solute at the ice-solution interface moving from one end of a vessel to the other end. It is characterized by having only a single ice crystal in the system so that the separation of the ice crystal from the concentrated solution is very easy compared with the conventional method of freeze-concentration. Progressive freeze-concentration was applied to a solution containing glucose and/or blue dextran as a model liquid food. The freeze-concentration ratio and apparent partition coefficient of a solute between the ice and the solution phases were strongly dependent on the moving speed of the freezing front and the stirring speed at the ice-solution interface. A lower moving speed and a higher stirring speed produced a better freeze-concentration ratio.