Phospholipids precipitation from cheese whey

Abstract

Whey, the largest co-product source of the dairy industry, contains highly valued components such as phospholipids. For this work, cheddar cheese whey's phospholipids were precipitated using thermocalcic aggregation. The impact of calcium acetate concentration, pH, and temperature as processing conditions was evaluated. The results showed that the highest recovery of phospholipids was achieved at pH 6.5, a calcium acetate concentration of 50 mM, and at a temperature of 60 °C. Calcium acetate concentration and pH were statistically significant factors (p < 0.05), but temperature was not. For all treatments, the majority (95%–98%) of the protein remained in the supernatant. Under the identified best conditions, up to 92% of the phospholipids of the milk fat globule membrane were precipitated in the pellet, while 96% of the proteins remained in the supernatant. The salt recovery, that is, in the precipitate, was 53%, but decreasing the amount of salt used would result in incomplete recovery of the phospholipids. Gel electrophoresis showed that the majority of the globule membrane proteins were precipitated into the pellet, while the supernatant only contained major whey proteins. This procedure demonstrates a simple and cost-effective method to utilize cheese whey for phospholipids precipitation that can be further processed into a value-added food or nutraceutical ingredient. This technique, after more fully optimized, would allow for easy implementation in small cheese production facilities.