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Food decolorization and purification (the most mainstream application)
Applicable products: Sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose; edible oils (soybean oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil); fruit juices, fruit wines, grape wines; condiments (soy sauce, vinegar, monosodium glutamate); food additives such as gelatin and citric acid.
Principle of action: Remove pigments (such as caramel color in sugars, carotenoids in edible oils, chlorophyll in fruit juices), odorous substances (such as rancid taste in fats and oils, fusel oil in alcohol), and trace impurities (such as protein degradation products, colloids) from raw materials through physical adsorption, thereby improving the color, taste, and purity of products.
Application examples:
Sugar industry: After extracting sugar from sugarcane/beets, granular activated carbon or powdered activated carbon is used to adsorb colored substances in the sugar solution to produce white granulated sugar and rock sugar;
Edible oil refining: After degumming and deacidifying crude oil, activated carbon is used in combination with activated clay for decolorization and deodorization to obtain clear and transparent refined oil;
Fruit juice processing: Powdered activated carbon is added to apple juice and grape juice to remove browning pigments and odors, extending the product's shelf life.
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Treatment of food processing wastewater
Applicable scenarios: Purification of production wastewater from food factories (such as sugar factories, breweries, slaughterhouses, and fruit juice factories).
Principle of action: Adsorb COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand), BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand), oils, proteins, pigments, and residual food additives (such as preservatives and sweeteners) in wastewater, reduce the pollution load of wastewater, and make it meet discharge standards or realize recycling.
Application characteristics: Granular activated carbon adsorption towers or activated carbon bioreactors are mostly used, combined with aeration and precipitation processes, which have high treatment efficiency and no secondary pollution, meeting the environmental protection and compliance requirements of the food industry.
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Food preservation and deodorization
Applicable products: Preservation of grains (rice, wheat, corn), nuts, dried foods, pastries, meat/fruits and vegetables.
Principle of action: Adsorb moisture, oxygen, ethylene gas (a fruit and vegetable ripening agent), and odor molecules (such as odors from grain mildew and meat spoilage) in the sealed environment, delay food oxidation, mildew, and deterioration, and extend the shelf life.
Application forms:
Made into activated carbon preservation bags (independent small packages with built-in granular activated carbon) and placed in food packaging bags or storage containers;
Activated carbon adsorption boxes are placed in grain warehouses and cold storage to purify the air and prevent grains from getting damp and moldy.
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Purification of auxiliary materials in the food industry
Applicable scenarios: Deep purification of food-grade alcohol, drinking water, and pure water used in food processing.
Principle of action: Remove residual chlorine, heavy metals (such as lead, mercury), trace organic substances (such as pesticide residues, industrial pollutants), and odors from water or alcohol, ensuring the safety of processing water/auxiliary materials and meeting food-grade standards.
Application examples: In beer brewing, activated carbon is used to filter brewing water to remove odors and impurities in the water, improving the taste of beer; in the production of food-grade alcohol, activated carbon adsorbs fusel oil and aldehydes in alcohol to improve alcohol purity.
II. Key usage requirements (in line with food industry specifications)
Material requirements: Food-grade activated carbon must be used (in line with the national standard GB/T 29215-2012 "Food Additive - Activated Carbon"). The raw materials must be non-toxic materials such as coconut shells, fruit shells, and wood chips. Coal-based activated carbon (which may contain heavy metal impurities) must not be used, and there must be no residual toxic solvents in the production process.
Forms of use:
In food processing, powdered activated carbon (with a particle size of 100-300 mesh, fully mixed with materials and then separated by filtration) or granular activated carbon (fixed-bed filtration, suitable for continuous liquid treatment) is mostly used;
In preservation scenarios, formed activated carbon (such as activated carbon fiber, activated carbon particle bags) is often used to avoid powder contamination of food.
Dosage and process control:
The dosage for decolorization needs to be adjusted according to the impurity content of raw materials (for example, the addition amount in the sugar industry is 0.1%-0.5% of the mass of the sugar solution). Excessive dosage may cause the product to adsorb active ingredients (such as vitamins);
After adsorption, activated carbon must be completely separated through filtration, centrifugation, etc., to avoid residual in food (the national standard requires that the residual amount of activated carbon in food is ≤0.005g/kg).
Safety verification: Before use, the heavy metal content and microbial indicators (such as total bacterial count, mold) of activated carbon must be tested to ensure compliance with the safety standards for food contact materials and avoid introducing pollution.
III. Core advantages (adapting to the needs of the food industry)
Non-toxic and odorless: Chemically stable, does not react with food ingredients, and does not introduce odors or harmful substances;
Efficient adsorption: Can quickly remove various impurities without affecting the nutritional components (such as vitamins, amino acids) and flavor of food;
Strong compliance: Complies with domestic and foreign standards for food additives and food contact materials, adapting to large-scale production in the food industry;
Controllable cost: Raw materials are widely available, the use process is simple, and the comprehensive cost can be reduced through regeneration and recycling (for example, activated carbon used in wastewater treatment in food factories can be regenerated and reused).
