For some years now, the Inovaleite group has been promoting various research, transfer and dissemination of concentrated and dehydrated dairy technology. The symposium “By the whey: technology, nutrition and market”, which took place between the 16th and 18th of May 2018 in Juiz de Fora/MG, was one of the group's actions and highlighted a gap in national scientific publication on the topic of “Whey chemistry and technology”. On the occasion, relevant topics were discussed for exploring the use of whey as a raw material with high added value in the national scenario, which was the basis for the preparation of this book. The efforts of the organizers of this work were to facilitate the construction of a text, which had not only an academic direction, but also an industrial one.
Therefore, the book begins by talking about whey proteins, their physical-chemical and structural aspects. The reader is introduced to a brief history of whey processing, highlighting its evolution from a by-product of the cheese industry, being discarded in rivers and destined for animal feed, through the use of lactose, to its valorization as a raw material to obtain proteins . At this point, the high technological and biological value of its proteins is highlighted, which allows the creation of products with differentiated textures and nutritional appeals, in addition to their potential for use in obtaining bioactive peptides.
Having understood the technological, economic and health importance of whey and its components, the book discusses the possible ways of obtaining whey and its impacts on the final composition of the product (proteins present) and its consequences on application properties. Therefore, the following chapter deals with the application of membrane filtration technology both in the fractionation of milk and whey constituents, and in the removal of microorganisms and somatic cells, with the aim of improving the quality and safety of this product. Effects of concentration of constituents, temperature, fractionation and dilution media (diafiltration), among others, are discussed in this chapter, with the aim of providing the necessary knowledge for the development of processes that allow obtaining quality products customized to your needs. application purpose.
The third chapter addresses the particularities of drying whey and the influence of the composition of the raw material on the quality of the final product. Transition figures in cheese processing and obtaining whey with different compositions are among the topics discussed, as well as the differences in the stages of manufacturing whey powder, compared to processing milk powder.
The following chapter has the support of the company GEA, which allowed important reference material for professionals in the field to be made available in Portuguese. It was up to the authors to make language adjustments and considerations regarding the Brazilian reality so that the complex process and equipment information was as accessible as possible to all professionals in the sector.
The knowledge base for understanding whey processing is complemented with chapter 5. The basic concepts that allow understanding the drying process are covered, covering fundamentals of chemistry and physics applied to whey drying, such as the vitreous state, glass transition and Mollier diagram. Drying products with hydrolyzed lactose is also discussed by the authors.
Chapters 6 and 7 deal with the products obtained from serum and their applications. First, protein concentrates are presented with their different compositions and different production processes, also considering the legislation standards and the final applications of these products. Below is a presentation of the evolution of dairy drinks in the Brazilian market, as well as the classification of this product. The various processes for obtaining and processing dairy drinks are presented and the main changes to the product are discussed, as well as challenges and opportunities for this market.
The book ends with the presentation and discussion of a series of analytical techniques that can be employed in quality control and during the development of whey products. The emphasis of the final chapter was on new methodologies or methodologies not normally used in the dairy routine, such as Infrared and Raman spectroscopy, chemometrics, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser diffraction. , among others.
We hope that this book will contribute to the development of the food sector in Brazil in the area of whey chemistry and technology. Happy studying!