Abstract: This scientific note reviews current approaches for using membrane technology to treat wastewater from food processing, for example, as a means to produce water by recovering components with high added value. In addition, with regard to the availability of wastewater, processes that contain membranes have been shown to be advantageous in terms of treating waste, recovering solutes, and producing water. With regard to the latter, processes that contain membranes can be considered to be a sustainable methodology given the valorization of waste. Lastly, this note provides a brief general view emphasizing a real need to apply membrane technology in the food industry, and indicates that its application is undoubtedly to come. | Resumen: Esta nota científica revisa los enfoques actuales de la tecnología de membranas para el tratamiento de residuos del procesamiento de alimentos; por ejemplo, como vía para la producción de agua a través de la recuperación de componentes de alto valor agregado. Además, se ha demostrado que los procesos integrados de membrana pueden ofrecer la ventaja de realizar las siguientes tareas en términos de disposición de aguas residuales: tratamiento de residuos, recuperación de solutos y producción de agua. Esto último permite considerar a los procesos integrados de membrana como una metodología sustentable a través de la valorización de residuos. Por último, esta nota provee una breve visión general, resaltando que la aplicación de la tecnología de membranas en verdad es necesaria en la industria alimentaria y que seguramente su implementación real aún está por venir.

Castro-Muñoz, R., Fíla, V., Rodríguez-Romero, V. M., & Yáñez-Fernández, J. (November-December, 2017). Water production from food processing wastewaters using integrated membrane systems: A sustainable approach. Water Technology and Sciences (in English), 8(6), 129-136, DOI: 10.24850/j-tyca-2017-06-09. This scientific note reviews current approaches for using membrane technology to treat wastewater from food processing, for example, as a means to produce water by recovering components with high added value. In addition, with regard to the availability of wastewater, processes that contain membranes have been shown to be advantageous in terms of treating waste, recovering solutes, and producing water. With regard to the latter, processes that contain membranes can be considered to be a sustainable methodology given the valorization of waste. Lastly, this note provides a brief general view emphasizing a real need to apply membrane technology in the food industry, and indicates that its application is undoubtedly to come.