Whey A By-product of the

Dairy Industry

Presented by
Mark Naughton
Aidan Doyle
Hugh Holland

What is Whey
Whey is the watery portion of milk
remaining after milk coagulation and
removal of the curd. Whey can be obtained
by acid, heat, and rennet coagulation of
milk. There are two types of whey.
Sour Whey Ph3.8 - 4.6
Sweet Whey Ph5.2 - 6.7

Sour\Acid Whey
Acid Whey: Acid whey is obtained
during making of acid type of cheese
such as cottage cheese.
Ph3.8 - 4.6

Sweet Whey
Sweet Whey: Sweet whey is
manufactured during making of
rennet type hard cheese like cheddar
or Swiss cheese.
Ph5.2 - 6.7

Individual Proteins of Whey

b -lactoglobulin 50%
a -lactalbumin 20%
Immunoglobulins 20%
Serum Albumin 5%
Minor Proteins 5%

Beta-lactoglobulin
-Lactoglobulin is the most
abundant protein in whey (about 6
g/l) and is responsible for
functional properties such as the
ability of whey protein to form a
gel on heating.

Alpha-lactalbumin
Alpha-lactalbumin is a whey protein high
in the amino acid tryptophan, which the
body uses to make the neurotransmitter
serotonin.
Purified alpha-lactalbumin is most readily
used in infant formula manufacturing, as it
has the most structurally similar protein
profile compared to breast milk.

Immunoglobulins
An immunoglobulin (Ig) is an antibody
whey fraction of milk appears to contain a
significant amount of immunoglobulins,
approximately 10-15 percent of total whey
proteins.

Choice Of Whey Processes.

Depends on the type of whey
Depends on market & location
Climate

Membrane filtration of Whey

Whey divided by use of membrane filter
Ultrafilteration
Microfilteration
Nanofilteration

Resulting in
Whey protein concentrate
Whey portein isolate
Lactose Permeate

Membrene Filtration
Membrane processing is the:
Separation without the use of heat.
Particles are separated on the basis of their
molecular size and shape with the use of
pressure and specially designed semipermeable membranes.
There two main forms of membrane filtration
involved in the whey processing industry
Micro Filteration & Ultrafilteration.

Filteration Process

Micro Filteration
Microfiltration is characterized as having a molecular
weight cut-off range (MWCO) from about 50,000 to
500,000.
Microfiltration of Whey involves Retention of fat and
large molecular weight whey proteins from small whey
proteins, Non-Protein Nitrogen (NPN), lactose and
minerals of a lower molecular weight.particles in the
range of 0.05-10 microns. Microfiltration is used for
fermentation, broth clarification and biomass
clarification and recovery.

Applications
Fat removal for WPI production: the limitation
of fat removal from whey by mechanical
separation results in high fat WPC. This high fat
level limits the maximum protein content in the
final WPC powder, usually 80-84% depending
on the feed quality. Whey protein isolates (WPI)
require reduction of fat content in the final
product to < 0.5%.

Ultrafiltration of Whey
Fractioning and retention of fat and
whey proteins of high molecular
weight from Non-Protein Nitrogen
(NPN), lactose and minerals of a
lower molecular weight.

Applications
35% - 65% Whey Protein Concentrate
Production: Total solids for 10-28%
depending on incoming feed
characteristics.
WPC 70-85% Whey Protein Concentrate
Production: Fat removal with Microfiltration
is required depending on feed
characteristics. Diafiltration is required.

Nanofilteration
Nanofiltration can perform
separation applications such as
demineralization, color removal,
and desalination. In concentration
of organic solutes, suspended
solids, and polyvalent ions, the
permeate contains monovalent
ions and low-molecular-weight
organic solutions like alcohol.

Whey Protein Concentrate

Whey protein concentrate has
anywhere between 29% and 89%
protein depending upon the product. As
the protein level in whey protein
concentrate decreases the amounts of
fat and/or lactose usually increase.

Whey Protein Isolate

Whey protein isolate is the most pure
and concentrated form of whey
protein available. It contains 90% or
more protein and very little (if any)
fat and lactose.

Drying of whey

Preheating
Concentration
Flash cooling
Precrystallization
Spray drying
Cooling in a vibrated fluid bed
Spray Drying without Crystallization Treatment

Whey Protein Coating

For whey coating for improving packaging
material
Whey Protein Coating for Formulations &
application methods for dry foods
Coating Formulations
Coating process conditions
Quality & Shelf life improvements

Further Research
Oxygen Coatings on food
Gloss Coatings on Sweets
Oxygen Barriers on plastics
Moisture Coatings on Plastics
Moisture Barriers on food
Anti-microbial coatings on cheese
Edible/biodegradeable films and
containers

Medical Research
Whey Protein Concentratesstimulate Cell-mediated & humoral
immunity for neck and head
cancer patients.
Several whey proteins display
anti-microbial & antiviral activity

Production of Ethanol
Ethanol for use in alcoholic beverages
& fuel, is produced by fermentation
of the Lactose Permeate from whey.
when certain species of yeast
metabolize suger in the absence of
oxygen, they produce ethanol and
carbon dioxide.

Ethanol ManufactureCarbery Group Ltd.

Whey permeate containing 4 percent lactose
provides the sugar which is broken down into
alcohol by lactose specific yeasts
Kluyveromyces fragilis. using a continuous
fermentation process
A Lactose stream produced during whey
ultrafiltration is pumped into one of the eight
fermentation vessels in the fermentation room

Yeast is added to each fermentation

vessel at the beginning of vessel filling
Conditions in each fermentation vessel
are set to enable the fast and efficient
conversion of lactose to ethanol.
Conditions in each fermentation vessel
are set to enable the fast and efficient
conversion of lactose to ethanol.

The yeast is recovered at the end of the

fermentation.
At the end of fermentation the ethanol
level is between 3.5% v/v and 4.2% v/v.
Beer liquor is pumped to the beer wash
column and the ethanol level is
concentrated at 96% v/v

Alcohol Rectification
3 stage distillation process which removes the
smallest levels of impurities.
The 96% v/v ethanol feints is diluted with water
and pumped into the extractive distillation
column.
Congeneric compounds miscible in ethanol, but
immiscible in water are removed
The main ethanol stream is pumped to the final
rectification column to reconcentrate the
ethanol and remove the remaining impurities in
the spirit

This milestone marked the culmination of 3 years

research to develop a yeast to efficiently convert
lactose to ethanol.
After a painstaking selection procedure a strain of
yeast from the Kluyveromyces fragili s family was
successfully introduced to the Carbery Lactose
fermentation process.
Production of ethanol has grown from over
2,500,000 litres alcohol in 1980 to over 8,000,000
litres currently.

Technology and Pollution

Prevention

decomposition requires all the oxygen available in

the water
dairies have disposed of large quantities of whey
by spray-irrigating it over the fields 7 m3/ha/day.
Membrane technology is widely used in pollution
prevention

Process/Operation

Water Purification

Waste Treatment

 PM10
The Irish EPA defines PM10 as particulate
matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers
collected with 50% efficiency by a PM10
sampling collection device. However, for
convenience in this reference material, the
term PM10 includes all particles having an
aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to
10 micrometers.
Fabric Filter A filtration device using one or
more filter bags, sheets, or panels to remove
particles from a gas stream.