PECULIARITIES OF PROTEINS FRACTIONATION AT ELECTROACTIVATION OF WHEY

Abstract

Food processing, which generates both by-products and waste, requires a revision of modern processes in the framework of the development of non-residual, environmentally friendly processes. Dairy by-products require the development of complex zero-waste technologies. Electroactivation is an emerging process to overcome those challenges, which allows for non-residual processing of milk by-products. Electroactivation, managing both the technological regimes and the geometric/technical parameters of the electrolyzers used to process different types of whey, allows both the electrofractionation of the whey proteins recovered in protein mineral concentrates enriched, under certain process conditions, with a certain protein content, but also the simultaneous isomerization of lactose into lactulose following two mechanisms, and creating a closed process cycle. The geometry of the electrolyzers and the content of the secondary liquid (anodic liquid) influence both the extraction and the formation of protein compounds enriched with alpha-lactalbumin, as well as the formation of a complex between calcium and isomerized lactulose.

Keywords

• alpha-lactalbumin
• electrofractionation
• electrolyzers
• isomerization
• lactose
• lactulose
• secondary dairy products