Chemical composition, functional and technological (processing) properties of whey ingredients

The growth in volumes of the milk whey manufacturing has revealed the new field of processing, such as dry whey ingredients production. The authors have made investigations of chemical composition, functional and technological (processing) properties of whey protein concentrates with protein of 35, 55, 80 % in dry matter, whey protein hydrolysate and cheese whey permeate. We used standard methods, generally accepted in research practice. The chemical composition of the tested samples has been determined, including their rehydration properties in terms of wettability, dispersibility and solubility. Heat denaturation of whey proteins during the processing is the reason for the bound groups–SH release and their reactivity enhancement, which provides antioxidant effect of whey ingredients (the antioxidant content in the tested samples is 0.031; 0.058; 0.095; 0.146 and 0.024 mg/g for the whey protein concentrates with protein of 35, 55, 80 % in dry matter, whey protein hydrolysate and whey permeate respectively). The functional and technological properties of whey ingredients make possible their application while producing different product line groups in order to control the technological processes and the quality factors of the enriched products.

Comparative experiments of electrical conductivity from whey protein concentrates conventional film and nanofibril film

We compared the electrical conductivity from two different aggregates of whey protein concentrates (WPC) film: conventional amorphous aggregation at natural pH (pH 6.5) and amyloid fibrils at a low pH (pH 2.0) far away from the isoelectric point. The two types of film fabricated by these solutions with different aggregate structures showed large variations in electrical conductivity and other properties. The WPC fibril film (pH 2.0) exhibited higher electrical conductivity than that of the conventional WPC film (pH 6.5), improved mechanical properties and oil resistance, due to varying morphology, higher surface hydrophobicity and more (absolute value) surface charge of film-forming solutions. The evidence from this study suggests that fibrilized WPC with high-ordered and β-sheets-rich structures fabricated high electrical conductivity film, which broadens the potential application of fibrils as functional bio-nanomaterials.