An investigation of the fractionation of whey proteins by two microfiltration membranes with nominal pore size of 0.1 μm

Abstract

There is growing interest in the fractionation of whey proteins because of the specific properties of individual whey proteins. The objective of this work was to assess the efficiency of two membranes to obtain two fractions, one rich in β‐lactoglobulin (β‐Lg) and the other rich in α‐lactalbumin (α‐La) from a whey‐protein concentrate using microfiltration (MF). Two MF membranes were tested for the fractionation: a flat‐sheet membrane VCWP and a spiral membrane MF‐7002, both with nominal pore sizes of 0.1 μm. The VCWP retained 78% of the proteins in solution, and this membrane was shown to be permeable to both proteins, β‐Lg and α‐La. The retention of protein by MF‐7002 was 65%, and there was a partial retention of lactose. The permeate collected in the MF‐7002 in the concentration stage was over 50%α‐La; although this was present in lower concentrations, it was passed preferentially to the permeate. The results indicated that some aggregation of the proteins may have occurred under the experimental conditions because there was only a partial separation of the proteins under study.

Microbiological stability and general sensory acceptance of microfiltered skim milk with agave fructans of a high degree of polymerization added

“…The operating conditions did not significantly affect ( p < 0.05) the physicochemical parameters, including titratable acidity, lactose, non‐fatty solids, density, cryoscopic point, fat, and pH, with respect to the feeding milk (results not shown). This result has been reported by various authors that confirm the ability of microfiltration membranes to permeate low molecular weight components in milk and maintain their chemical composition and unaltered organoleptic properties (Baldasso, Kanan, & Tessaro, 2011; Karasu et al, 2010). However, the process conditions had a significant influence ( p > 0.05) on the percentage of protein permeation and the retention of bacteria.…”

Protein recovery as a resource from waste specifically via membrane technology—from waste to wonder

“… (Roslan et al 2017 ) 5 Dairy waste in the form of whey proteins UF (10 kDa). membrane pore size 200–250 nm Whey protein (b-lactoglobulin) aggregation leads to severe fouling (Steinhauer et al 2015 ; Ganju and Gogate 2017 ) 6 Whey, a by-product of cheese Flat-sheet membrane (0.0061 m 2 ) and a spiral membrane (0.22 m 2 ) Aggregation of b-lactoglobulin protein takes place as membrane shows retention of this moiety (Baldasso et al 2011 ; Argenta and Scheer 2020 ) n.r. not reported …”