Concentrate

A concentrate, in particular for liquids and essence, is a substance - a powder or a liquid - with or without a small amount of additional fillers, in the case of liquid solvents. Prior to use, the concentrate then the original volume is restored by re- addition of the filler and the solvent.

An advantage is the reduced transport costs when large quantities, eg fruit juices, from the producer to the consumer must be transported countries ( thick juice ). Many concentrates are easier to store and require less packaging effort.

To form a concentrate, the filler or the solvent must be removed from the original mixture. For solids, this is done by freeze-drying or centrifuging. In these cases the concentrate, as well as the initial mixture, a solid. Analogously, it is possible to process liquids by boiling or distillation to concentrated liquids. Drying by an initially liquid substance into a solid material can be converted, for example, soluble coffee.

In membrane filtration, such as reverse osmosis or nanofiltration, the retentate phase containing the concentrated components is referred to as a concentrate or retentate.