OPTIMIZATION OF PROTEINS RECOVERY PROCESS FROM CHEESE WHEY

A. CUELLAS; R. JAGUS ; J. WAGNER

Congreso; 11th. International Congress on Engineering and Food; 2011

National Technical University of Athenas, School of Chemical Engineering

The process to obtain a protein-containing ingredient from the remaining whey of Argentinean “Cuatriolo”cheese production was studied. In order to optimize the protein recovery, physical and chemical treatmentswere investigated. The different sequences of application of heating step and acid addition, and the presenceor absence of fat and CaCl2 were evaluated on the yield, water retention and particle size.The results showed that the highest yield of the process (76.6 %) and an increases in water retention (39.85w/w) are achieved when the acid is added after boiled and incubated for 30 min at 90 ºC. On the other hand,the yield of protein recovery is related to the particle size of the aggregates, increasing the particle sizeincreases the recovery of proteins. In these working conditions the presence of calcium shows a lower yieldof recovery (72.8 %) and this correlates with a smaller particle size. Additionally, the presence of fat alsoreduces the particle size, decreasing the performance of the process (69.4 %). The simultaneous presence offat and CaCl2 increase the amount of water retained in the aggregated protein (47.62 w/w). Therefore, theprocess of aggregation in whey protein should take into account both the design of suitable protocol such asthe presence of fat and additives.We conclude that the optimization of the aggregation process allow to reduce the volume of effluent from thecheese industry and get new protein ingredients for use in the food industry.