Pre-treatment of whey protein concentrate using calcium sequestering salts and high-pressure homogenisation to modify component partitioning during microfiltration

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dc.contributor.authorMestawet, Asfaw T.en
dc.contributor.authorFrance, Thomas C.en
dc.contributor.authorMulcahy, Patrick G. J.en
dc.contributor.authorO'Mahony, James A.en
dc.contributor.funderEnterprise Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderHorizon 2020en
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-24T15:49:58Z
dc.date.available2025-04-24T15:49:58Z
dc.date.issued2025en
dc.description.abstractWhey protein concentrate (WPC) undergoes microfiltration (MF) to produce whey protein isolate (WPI), generating a lower value MF retentate as a co-product. Higher-than-expected protein retention in the retentate, attributed to protein aggregation, has been shown to limit WPI yield. Strategies to reverse or reduce aggregation would be expected to increase protein transmission during MF. This study investigated the effects of pre-treating WPC with 5 mM trisodium citrate (TSC), a calcium-binding salt and high-pressure homogenisation (HPH) at 650 bar, both individually and in combination, on protein transmission during MF. A WPC solution (2.4% protein) was pre-treated with TSC, HPH, TSC followed by HPH (TSC + HPH), or HPH followed by TSC (HPH + TSC). Microfiltration was performed using a 1000 kDa polyethersulfone membrane. Processing time, component partitioning and chemical composition in feed, retentate and permeate were analysed. Protein profiles were assessed using SDS-PAGE and RP-HPLC, in addition to whey protein denaturation. Data were obtained from three independent trials, with all analyses conducted in triplicate. Treatment significantly reduced processing time and increased protein permeation (P < 0.05). Processing time decreased by 6.4–11.0%, with TSC and HPH having the strongest effects. Compared with the control, protein retention in MF retentate from pre-treated samples decreased by 7.5–11.5%, with HPH + TSC showing the greatest effect, while permeate protein content increased by 5.45–9.64% (P < 0.05). SDS-PAGE confirmed lower levels of protein aggregation, particularly in HPH + TSC, coinciding with the lowest sedimented protein level (43.4%). Trisodium citrate pre-treated samples showed significantly lower (P < 0.05) calcium and magnesium levels, providing evidence that cations are involved in mediating protein aggregation. The results indicate that WPC treatment can modify protein permeation, improving the yield of WPI while also generating an MF retentate further enriched in polar lipids, supporting more sustainable dairy processing. en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleide70011en
dc.identifier.citationMestawet, A. T., France, T. C., Mulcahy, P. G. and O'Mahony, J. A. (2025) 'Pre‐treatment of whey protein concentrate using calcium sequestering salts and high‐pressure homogenisation to modify component partitioning during microfiltration', International Journal of Dairy Technology, 78(2), p.e70011. DOI: 10.1111/1471-0307.70011en
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/1471-0307.70011en
dc.identifier.issn1364727Xen
dc.identifier.issued2
dc.identifier.journaltitleInternational Journal of Dairy Technologyen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/17339
dc.identifier.volume78
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherJohn Wiley and Sons Incen
dc.relation.project847402en
dc.rights© 2025 The Author(s). International Journal of Dairy Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Dairy Technology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectHomogenisationen
dc.subjectMicrofiltrationen
dc.subjectWheyen
dc.subjectWhey protein concentrateen
dc.titlePre-treatment of whey protein concentrate using calcium sequestering salts and high-pressure homogenisation to modify component partitioning during microfiltrationen
dc.typeArticle (peer reviewed)en
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