Whey: State of the Art. Part II. Processes and Treatment Methods

Abstract

The current state of the art on studying of whey is considered. The processes and methods of whey processing (thermal, chemical, physicochemical, biotechnological, and electrophysical) are presented. Thermal and isoelectric precipitation of proteins, using reagents and coagulants, as well as the main membrane processing methods (reverse osmosis, diafiltration, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration) are described. Possibi-lities of effective separation of whey proteins by a combination of membrane and other methods are noted. Chromatographic methods for fractionation of whey proteins (chromatography with imitation of a moving bed, high-gradient chromatography with a magnetic trap, selective adsorption, displacement chromatography, membrane adsorption), which provide a high degree of separation, are described. Highly porous chromatographic materials providing a high flow rate, biotechnological processing methods – biosynthesis of lactulose, enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose and whey proteins, aerobic and anaerobic fermentation are considered. Electrophysical methods of processing whey (electrodialysis, electroactivation), which include electrodialysis and electro-activation, as well as electrochemical activation as a phenomenon and technology, as a new promising processing method that allows to create a waste-free cycle for obtaining valuable components and useful derivatives from whey without the use of reagents are analyzed. It is emphasized that, depending on the regimes used, protein-mineral concentrates with a predetermined protein or mineral composition are obtained with the simultaneous isomerization of lactose into lactulose. It is stated that the efficiency of methods for processing whey is ensured by a significant increase in the efficiency of technological processes, a decrease in labor costs, a reduction in the processing time and materials, and an improvement in the quality and functional properties of the final products.