IIT Roorkee Develops Membrane To Separate Fat Globules From Milk

In a revolutionary method for the dairy industry, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Roorkee has developed a membrane to separate fat globules from milk. The research published on the journal, "Separation and Purification Technology" is based on milk microfiltration. This one-step process separates fat globules based on size from bovine milk using a cross-flow microfiltration.

This is an efficient and cost-effective method for preserving the nutritional qualities of milk fat globules.

The first author of the research, PhD student Ayushi Kapoor, was granted the International Travel Award by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science & Technology.

According to a press release, her research paper has been selected for oral presentation at the upcoming Annual Conference of the Membrane Society Australasia conference in Perth, Australia in December. The institute has filed a complete Indian patent for the process.

On her achievement, Ayushi Kapoor said, "Our study has developed a one-step process which not only operates efficiently at lower pressure but also successfully preserves the structure of separated fat globules."

"The current milk fat globule separation techniques involve 4-5 steps which makes it a more time-consuming and costly process. Also, the excess processing steps damage the milk fat globules leading to the reduction in their nutritional properties. Whereas, the process that we have developed directly separates from raw milk, without applying any pre-processing, thus saving time, energy and money, when implemented at the industrial level,” added the PhD student.

According to a press release by IIT Roorkee, the first author of the research, PhD student Ayushi Kapoor, was granted the International Travel Award by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. Her research paper has been selected for oral presentation at the upcoming Annual Conference of the Membrane Society Australasia conference in Perth, Australia in December.