Semi-industrial scale-up of EDUF technology for the electroseparation of bioactive cationic peptides: Impact of process parameters and cell configurations on eco-efficiency

Abstract Electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membrane (EDUF) is an electromembrane process gaining increasing interest for the recovery of charged molecules, especially bioactive peptides as part of sustainable strategies. Although supported by promising lab-scale results, the scale-up of this technology on a semi-industrial unit had yet to be implemented. In this study, for the first time, the feasibility of EDUF on the smallest commercially available industrial unit with active membrane surface area of 560 cm2 per cell is evaluated for recovering cationic peptides from a whey protein hydrolysate (WPH). With a peptide migration rate ranging from 2.0 to 1.0 g/h and a peptide yield of 4%, the first experiment led to identification of 10 peptides predominantly recovered in the cationic fraction. Substantial improvements were observed in terms of ACE- and DPP-IV inhibitory activities as the cationic recovery fraction was found four and three times more potent than the WPH, respectively, due to the recovery of antihypertensive cationic peptide sequence ALPMHIR, and antidiabetic IPAVFK and LIVTQTMK. Furthermore, increasing the power input helped identify process limitations caused by demineralization phenomenon, which was then remedied by developing a new configuration. This innovative configuration showed better selectivity and migration rates for cationic peptides (2 × recovery for ALPMHIR) and provided a better understanding of transport phenomena during EDUF. Moreover, eco-efficiency scores were in favour of the new configuration as far less chemicals were required for its implementation, making it a very promising alternative to existing systems.