Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dairy Quality Assurance Center (1995b) Caring for Dairy United States. Urbana: University of Illinois at Urbana,
Animals: On-Farm Evaluation Guide. Stratford: DQAC, Illinois Agriculture Experimental Station.
Agri-Education. Jasper JM and Nelkin D (1992) The Animal Rights Crusade:
Federation of Animal Science Societies (1999a) Guidelines The Growth of a Moral Protest. New York: Free Press.
for dairy cattle husbandry. In: Mench JA (ed.) Guide for Leahy MPT (1991) Against Liberation: Putting Animals in
the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Agricultural Perspective. London: Routledge.
Research and Teaching. Savoy: FASS. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1983) Codes
Federation of Animal Science Societies (1999b) Guidelines of Recommendations for Welfare of Livestock: Cattle.
for veal calf husbandry. In: Mench JA (ed.) Guide for the London: MAFF.
Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Agricultural Marquardt K, Levine HM and LaRochelle M (1993)
Research and Teaching. Savoy: FASS. Animal Scam. Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway.
Finsen L and Finsen S (1994) The Animal Rights Move- Matthews LR, Phipps A, Verkerk GA et al. (1995) The
ment in America. New York: Twayne. Effects of Tail Docking and Trimming on Milker
Fox MW (1983) Animal welfare and the dairy industry. Comfort and Dairy Cattle Health, Welfare and
Journal of Dairy Science 66: 2221±2225. Production. Report to Ministry of Agriculture and
Garner R (1993) Animals, Politics and Morality. Manches- Food, Animal Behavior and Welfare Research Center.
ter: Manchester University Press. Hamilton, New Zealand: AgResearch Ruakura.
Grandin T (ed.) (2000) Livestock Handling and Transport, Regan T (1983) The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley:
2nd edn. Wallingford: CAB International. University of California Press.
Guither HD (1998) Animal Rights: History and Scope of Rollin BE (1981) Animal Rights and Human Morality.
a Radical Social Movement. Carbondale: Southern Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
Illinois University Press. Van Horn HH and Wilcox CJ (eds.) (1992) Large Dairy
Guither HD and Curtis SE (1983) Animal Welfare: Herd Management. Champaign: American Dairy
Developments in Europe: A Perspective for the Science Association.
WHEY PROCESSING
Contents
Utilization and Products
Demineralization
Utilization and Products until recently as one of the major disposal problems
of the dairy industry. The biological oxygen demand
P Jelen, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, (BOD) of whey is very high (40 000 mg kgÿ1 or more),
Canada constituting a major ecological burden if disposed off
Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved as a waste material. Thus, the disposal practices of the
past, including drainage into waste treatment facil-
ities or spraying onto ®elds, are currently seldom
practised. Use of whey as cattle or pig feed is still one
of the signi®cant alternatives to utilization in the
Introduction
human food chain, now being predominantly fa-
Whey, the greenish translucent liquid obtained from voured due to the economic opportunities provided
milk after precipitation of casein, has been viewed by some of the milk nutrients contained in the whey.
2740 WHEY PROCESSING/Utilization and Products
Whey Types and Composition solubilized and partitioned into the whey. On the
other hand, rennet clotting produces a fragment of
There are several types of whey, depending mainly on
the k-casein molecule, termed glycomacropep-
the processing sequence resulting in casein removal
tide (GMP), which ends up in the whey. Thus, the
from ¯uid milk. The most often encountered type of
GMP constitutes approximately 20% of the whey
whey originates from the manufacture of cheese or
protein fraction of sweet, rennet-based wheys but is
certain industrial casein products, where the pro-
not found in the acid wheys unless renneting was
cessing is based on coagulating the casein by rennet,
included in the fresh cheese manufacturing process.
an industrial casein-clotting preparation containing
Various technological steps used in pretreatment of
chymosin or other casein-coagulating enzymes. Since
milk before the main processes (such as various
the rennet-induced coagulation of casein occurs at
thermal treatments before the casein clotting op-
approximately pH 6.5, this type of whey is referred
eration) may also in¯uence the composition of the
to as sweet whey. The second basic whey type,
whey resulting from such milk. Typically, the com-
acid whey, results from processes using fermenta-
position of the mineral fraction may be altered slightly
tion or addition of organic or mineral acids to
and the content of heat-labile whey proteins will be
coagulate the casein as in the manufacture of
reduced; these changes may result in further altera-
fresh cheeses (e.g. cottage cheese or quark) or most
tions in the technological properties of such wheys.
industrial casein.
New technological alternatives for processing of
The main components of both sweet and acid
dairy ¯uids, including membrane processing by
wheys, after water (which constitutes approximately
ultra®ltration (UF) of milk in cheese manufacture
93% of the whey on `as is' basis) are lactose (ap-
or fractionation of the various wheys into various
proximately 70±72% of the total solids), whey
whey-based products, produces a whey-like residue
proteins (approximately 8±10%) and minerals
termed UF permeate. The main difference between
(approximately 12±15%). Table 1 gives a more
UF permeates and the various whey types is typically
detailed breakdown of these components of the two
the virtual absence of the whey proteins from the
basic wheys. The main differences between the two
permeate. Although technically, UF permeate does
whey types are in the mineral content, the acidity
not ®t the de®nition of whey, it is referred to in
and the composition of the whey protein fraction.
this article where appropriate as its processing
Although on the `as is' basis these differences are
and utilization often presents similar challenges and
relatively minor, they have a profound effect on
opportunities as for whey.
the technological as well as nutritional properties of
the wheys and must be taken into consideration
in applications of the various whey processing Industrial Technologies Used in
technologies now available to whey processors. The
Processing of Whey and UF Permeates
acid coagulation approach (using conversion of some
of the lactose in milk to lactic acid by lactic acid As a general rule, about 9 l of whey is obtained for
bacteria and/or addition of acidulants such as glu- every kg of cheese produced; thus, the volume of
cono-d-lactone or various acids such as sulphuric, whey to be processed, originating from just one
phosphoric, hydrochloric, citric or lactic) results in typical large-scale cheesemaking operation, can ex-
the substantially increased acidity (®nal pH ap- ceed 1106 l dayÿ1. Most of the technological
proximately 4.5) necessary for the casein precip- alternatives used in specialized whey-processing
itation. At this low pH, the colloidal calcium plants are thus large-scale operations, some with
contained in the casein micelles in normal milk is a capacity to handle up to 10106 l of whey daily.
Table 1 Typical composition of sweet and acid whey (g lÿ1 whey); illustrative
data compiled from various sources
The simplest technology for the conversion of whey various membrane processes (see Membrane Separa-
to industrially valuable products is drying. Typical tion) giving rise to whey protein concentrate (WPC),
traditional whey-drying operations consist of evap- whey protein isolate (WPI) or whey protein fraction
oration in multistage vacuum evaporators, followed (WPF) products (see Milk Proteins: Whey Protein
by spray-drying. The equipment used does not differ Products). Although products with as little as 35%
greatly from other such dairy plant installations but protein (produced by partial removal of lactose
the evaporation and drying conditions must be ad- through crystallization or by using simple UF and
justed to accommodate the speci®c properties of the intended for replacement of skim milk powder in
whey. In particular, the differences between evapora- certain applications) are included under the term
tion or spray-drying of skim milk and whey include WPC, the more valuable WPC products have at least
the need to precrystallize the whey lactose before the 65% protein and the production technology does not
drying step to minimize the problems of hygro- involve any steps involving lactose precrystallization.
scopicity, as well as the careful manipulation of the The highest quality WPI and WPF products are
heat conditions to minimize problems caused by the manufactured using various technologies including
heat sensitivity of the whey proteins. Dried whey dia®ltration, electrodialysis, ion exchange, nano®l-
powders can differ rather substantially in composi- tration or their combinations. For the production of
tion and technological properties, depending on almost all whey protein products, the ®nal step is
various pretreatment operations used both to handle spray drying, which should be controlled carefully
the original milk or the original whey. Some of the to minimize the heat damage of the thermally sens-
typical dried whey products are listed in Table 2. itive whey proteins. Both spray-drying and especially
Partial (70%) or almost complete (90%) deminer- evaporation can cause heat damage resulting in loss of
alization of the whey is an important pretreatment solubility and other functionality defects. Thus, as
process differentiating many of the whey powders a preconcentration step, especially for the production
(see Whey Processing: Demineralization). of WPC, WPI and WPF products, reverse osmosis
Whey, or nowadays more importantly UF milk or or freeze concentration can be viewed as viable
whey permeates, is the principal raw material for the alternatives to traditional thermal evaporation. The
crystallization of lactose (see Lactose: Properties, use of reverse osmosis to increase the capacity of
Production, Applications); the residual partially or conventional whey evaporators, or even for pre-
more substantially delactosed whey (`mother liquor') concentrating large amounts of whey before trans-
constitutes yet another dried whey product differing portation to a central whey processing facility, is
in composition from the basic dried unmodi®ed quite common in the whey processing industry.
whey. Finally, UF permeates are also being spray-
dried with increasing frequency, giving yet another
Whey Cheeses and Whey Beverages
modi®ed dried whey product consisting primarily of
lactose and whey minerals but almost devoid of The preceding discussion focused on industrial large-
protein. scale processes resulting in an array of technological
The levels and forms of whey protein are important and functional whey ingredients or whey protein
factors differentiating the various dried whey prod- products, used increasingly as nutritionally important
ucts. In contrast to the processes described above, the components in special dietary products for infant,
whey protein fraction can be removed (selectively or geriatric or sport nutrition. However, whey can be
totally) from raw whey and concentrated by using also a raw material for the production of traditional
Table 2 Typical composition of major types of dried whey products (% w/w); illustrative data
compiled from various sources including data of manufacturers
foods destined for direct consumer markets. Two calcium in comparison to sweet whey. Some of the
such product classes, whey cheeses and whey bev- fruit ¯avours used in commercial whey beverages
erages, represent the traditional uses of whey on include mango, passion fruit, grapefruit, lemon,
a small scale, practised long before the industrial orange, pear or their combinations. Other ap-
approach became feasible, and are still important in proaches documented in the literature include the
some parts of the world. In fact, the use of whey for production of yoghurt drinks containing a substantial
therapeutic applications was advocated already in whey component, or fermentation of liquid whey
Ancient Greece by Hippocrates. This and other protein concentrates from sweet whey to produce
similar anecdotal comments concerning the drinking a `thin sour milk', as the stability of the whey protein
of whey (including even the Little Miss Muffet . . . ) at low pH does not lead to the clotted appearance of
illustrate one of the most obvious, but least in- traditional sour milk products.
dustrially favoured, uses of whey as a drink, logically Attempts to produce whey beverages with a high
paralleling the use of milk, buttermilk and other ¯uid whey protein content have been recorded in the lit-
milk products as beverages. erature with little or no indication of commercial
viability. It may be that with the presently increas-
Whey Beverages
ing reputation of whey proteins as nutraceutically
important food components, the development of such
In general, whey beverages have not been overly products will be intensi®ed. The heat sensitivity of the
successful with the sophisticated modern consumers, whey proteins is one important problem encountered
save for a few rather exceptional instances. Minim- in manufacturing these products with a demand for
ally processed un¯avoured or modi®ed raw whey extended shelf-life. However, since the resistance of
is being sold in various health-food stores in various whey proteins to heat-induced coagulation in the
countries, especially in Europe, where the current absence of casein increases dramatically at pH below
organic food movement may result in increased 3.9, it may be possible to formulate high whey
opportunities in this regard. Occasional reports on protein drinks, even for UHT processing. Altern-
whey-based beverages marketed for special occa- atively, various nonthermal processes now being
sions (e.g. an `of®cial Olympic Games drink' in studied actively for various food processing uses can
1984 in Sarajevo) can be found in literature. Local be considered.
markets often feature whey beverages produced by
dairy companies looking for new outlets for their
Whey Cheeses
surplus whey; unfortunately, these attempts are typ-
ically short-lived, often due to the lack of any serious Whey cheeses have suffered a somewhat similar lack
product development effort that is necessary of international marketing success; however, in a
to precede the launch of any such new product. The few localities whey cheeses belong among the most
rather unpleasant ¯avour of raw whey, the origins traditional and most important foods. Two types of
of which have never been satisfactorily explained, is whey cheeses are recognized in the textbooks and
a major deterrent limiting the acceptance of these by the International Dairy Federation. The main dif-
products by contemporary consumers, especially in ferences between the production technologies for
view of the ®erce competition of other ¯avourful these two products are illustrated schematically in
and inexpensive thirst-quenching beverages. Figure 1. The more widespread of the two is the
The only whey beverage with a record of lasting Italian-type whey cheese Ricotta, essentially a heat-
success is the Swiss product Rivella, which in fact uses acid coagulated whey protein paste, sometimes re-
highly modi®ed whey as only a minor ingredient at ferred to as `whey quark' (see Cheese: Acid and Acid/
33% total volume (the remaining 67% being added Heat Coagulated Cheese). The processing technology
water). Other locally successful products have is quite simple, consisting of heating whey (often
existed on some European national markets (Austria, mixed with up to 25% added skim milk) to at least
Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland) for some 90 C for a few minutes, resulting in heat-induced
time; however, several known international market- coagulation of the whey proteins (and any caseins
ing attempts with these products have failed. The if present due to the added milk); the coagulum
most typical approach to whey beverage development is then separated by suitable mechanical means. The
is combination with fruit juices, especially citrus traditional batch manufacturing procedures are
fruits which are most compatible with the ¯avour cumbersome and involve much hand labour, in
characteristic of whey. This is especially true in the particular in separation of the heat-coagulated, fragile
case of acid whey being more suitable for this whey protein curd. Mechanized and automated
application due to its high content of lactic acid and continuous systems are now in existence and these
WHEY PROCESSING/Utilization and Products 2743
result in increased economy, improved shelf-life and phase of the evaporation process) to below 65 C, is
better sensory qualities of the ®nal product. the most essential aspect of the otherwise routine
In contrast to the Ricotta-type whey cheese evaporation process carried out in two steps. After
involving primarily the protein fraction of whey (and preconcentration in traditional dairy evaporators, the
thus not offering a solution to the whey disposal ®nal operation involves a special kettle, `gryta',
problem which is especially pressing for the small- in which batch evaporation is carried out at an elev-
scale cheese manufacturers), the Norwegian-style ated temperature needed to reduce the viscosity
whey cheese Mysost utilizes all the whey components of the thick paste. This high temperature tends to
and leaves no residue other than water vapour. The minimize the uncontrolled crystallization of lactose
principle of the Mysost cheese process is even sim- and is the main reason for the typical brown
pler than that for the manufacture of Ricotta, as colour of the product due to the pronounced
Mysost is essentially highly concentrated whey to Maillard reaction. The subsequent rapid cooling
which some other components (such as milk fat or step in scraped-surface agitators/coolers promotes
cream in the traditional version) have been added formation of very small lactose crystals, thus min-
(Table 3). The main technological problem encountered imizing the development of pronounced grittiness/
in the manufacture of Mysost cheese is the crystal- sandiness of the ®nal product. There are two basic
lization of lactose in the highly concentrated whey- types of Mysost ± sliceable or spreadable ± available
based paste related to the low solubility of lactose. in Norway, its country of origin and still the only
Thus, a `controlled crystallization' step, consisting signi®cant market for these products; the two main
of rapid cooling of the hot paste with intensive stir- types are differentiated principally by the moisture
ring, from about 95 C (the temperature of the last content and encompass further variations differing
in the fat content, inclusion of some goats' milk for
WHEY a stronger taste, intensity of the brown colour
development and sometimes inclusion of sweetening
agents or other ingredients.
evaporation heating
Because the relatively simple Mysost process tech-
nology leaves no residue other than the evaporated
cream addition protein coagulation water, its principle is much more useful than that of
the Ricotta process as a means of whey disposal,
particularly for small cheese manufacturers.
batch evaporation protein separation However, signi®cant product development efforts
PROTEIN
(gryta kettle)
DEPLETED
would be necessary to modify the sensory pro®les
WHEY of the basic Norwegian products to suit the tastes
of markets outside Norway, as demonstrated in
lactose crystallization protein curd several consumer studies conducted in Canada and
(scraped-surface cooler)
elsewhere.
cream + salt addition
Ricotta
whole milk 72.2 12.7 11.2 3.0
whey 82.5 0.5 11.3 1.5
Mysost
sliceable 17.4 28.3 11.5 36.2
spread 26.6 3.6 7.7 46.2
2744 WHEY PROCESSING/Utilization and Products
nutrients, the pro®table utilization of these materials well-known use of whey water is as a condensate from
for human nutrition continues to be a prob- the evaporators, mainly for rinsing and equipment
lem because of the sheer volume of these byproducts washing purposes, but not for productive eco-
of conventional or modern cheesemaking. In nu- nomically advantageous applications.
merous research reports and several major industrial
projects, whey ± due to its suitable content of a fer- Nutritional and Nutraceutical
mentable carbohydrate, lactose ± was used as a
Aspects of Whey Utilization
medium for the production of various food-grade or
nonfood products using microbial fermentations. The new approach to developing technically and
Among the most successful current uses of whey in economically feasible uses for whey and whey-like
this regard are the plants producing food-grade or products lies in ®nding some unique properties for
industrial alcohol in New Zealand, the United States, at least some of the main whey components. The
Ireland and possibly other countries; one of the current trend in the food ®eld, focusing on the
best examples of such use is the Original Bailey's health-promoting aspects of traditional or novel
Cream Liqueur from Ireland or most of the liqueurs foods, has opened up new possibilities for whey-
produced in New Zealand. In the past, whey was based products. Whey contains many minor milk
an important substrate for conversion into Torula components that are known (or thought) to have
spp. yeast biomass used in animal feeds, or for other physiologically important functions. Some examples
fermentation-based lactose-derived products such of these compounds are found especially among
as antibiotics, lactic acid or other microbial meta- the whey proteins; these include minor whey pro-
bolites. The current preoccupation with organically tein components such as lactoferrin or lactoper-
produced foods and natural food ingredients may oxidase, the immunoglobulins, and even major
signal a possible opportunity for revitalization of constituents of the whey protein fraction such as
some of these processes, abandoned in the past due the glycomacropeptide or bovine serum albumin.
to unfavourable economic feasibility in comparison Some of the mineral compounds, especially the
to direct chemical synthesis or using other ferment- calcium phosphate complex, are now also being
able substrates. Use of whey for the propagation of marketed as `natural' food ingredients. Even lactose
lactic cultures for cheese manufacturing is well is being re-examined for its unique nutritional
established in many countries. Whey can be used properties, including the purported enhancement
also for the generation of biogas; several such in- of calcium absorption or its unique disaccharide
stallations where the biogas is used as an energy composition, thus serving as a raw material for the
source in the same cheese plant at which the whey production of prebiotic compounds such as lacto-
is produced are in operation in Switzerland and oligosaccharides (see Galacto-Oligosaccharides). The
possibly other countries. More recently, whey or limited sweetness of lactose can be enhanced by
whey permeates have been shown to be suitable fer- hydrolysis into the two lactose monosaccharides,
mentation substrates for the production of bacter- glucose and galactose. Most of the industrial lac-
iocins such as nisin, or for other valuable food tose hydrolysis processes developed for the pro-
ingredients using speci®c strains of various lactic duction of sweetening syrups for food uses (such as
acid bacteria. in ice cream) using immobilized b-galactosidase
While lactose is currently the cheapest simple enzyme reactors have failed mainly because of the
carbohydrate on the market, it is not fermented high cost of such technology. An alternative low-cost
by many microorganisms, necessitating careful process, based on the use of mechanically disrupted
selection of the cultures for many of the possible common dairy bacteria producing high amounts of
fermentation applications. Uses of whey as a raw b-galactosidase, has been proposed and is currently
material for the production of alcoholic beverages, under investigation. If successful, such a process
such as whey wine or whey beer, have been described could have a major impact not only for the process-
in the literature, but because lactose is not fermen- ing of whey but for uses in other dairy foods, thus
ted by common yeasts without special pretreatments, expanding the dairy markets for lactose-intolerant
as well as for other reasons, these attempts at pro®t- consumers (see Enzymes Exogenous to Milk in Dairy
able whey utilization have not resulted in lasting Technology: Beta-D-Galactosidase. Lactose: Proper-
successes. ties, Production, Applications).
Surprisingly, by far the most abundant whey The main focus of interest regarding the nutri-
component, water, seems to have been neglected in tional/nutraceutical properties of whey is currently
the innumerable research attempts to ®nd new prof- centred on the whey protein fraction. Today,
itable uses for whey and/or its components. The only whey protein products are the main ingredients in
WHEY PROCESSING/Demineralization 2745