An Integrated Approach for the Valorization of Cheese Whey.

Francisco J Barba

doi:10.3390/foods10030564

Abstract

Taking into account the large amount of whey that is produced during the cheese production process and the constant demand by society for more sustainable processes, in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the circular economy concept, it is necessary to adapt two-unit operations into a single process, allowing us to not only valorize a part of the whey but the whole process, which is known as bioprocess integration. In this sense, the adaptation of different processes, for example, physicochemical (micro, ultra and nanofiltration) and fermentation, that are commonly used to obtain proteins, lactose and other compounds with different activities (antioxidant, antifungal, etc.) could be integrated to achieve a complete recovery of the cheese whey. Likewise, keeping in mind that one of the main drawbacks of cheese whey is the great microbial load, some innovative processing technologies, such as high hydrostatic pressures, electrotechnologies and ultrasound, can allow both the development of new foods from whey as well as the improvement of the nutritional and organoleptic properties of the final products prepared with cheese, and thus reducing the microbial load and obtaining a safe product could be incorporated in the cheese whey valorization process.

Highlights

Due to the recent efforts to increase sustainability at the agri-food level and in full correspondence with both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the circular economy concept, there has been an increased growth in the interest to valorize the resources obtained during different food production processes [1,2]
Whey is the main by-product obtained by the dairy industry, representing a global whey production of ~200 million tonnes (MT) [3,4,5], with ~40 MT being produced in the European Union [6]
≈50% of residual whey is being valorized as a source of high-added-value compounds for the food or pharmaceutical industries, mainly proteins of high biological value, lactose, lactic acid and minerals, there is still a high proportion of this whey that is wasted, promoting environmental pollution due to its high biological oxygen demand and important organic load [7,8]

Summary

Introduction

Due to the recent efforts to increase sustainability at the agri-food level and in full correspondence with both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the circular economy concept, there has been an increased growth in the interest to valorize the resources obtained during different food production processes [1,2]. As it is stated, cheese whey can be re-used inside the cheese factories to produce other fresh products such as, for example, cheese such as ricotta or brunost, and whey butter. Adding whey proteins into breads that lack essential amino acids, lysine, tryptophan and methionine can be a good strategy to improve the nutritional profile of the new developed food products. In recent studies, different researchers have investigated the addition of whey as a meat protein replacer in order to develop healthier meat products and evaluated its impact on the nutritional composition (moisture, fat, ash, carbohydrates, proteins and amino acid profile) and physicochemical properties (color, hardness, adhesiveness, elasticity, gumminess and chewiness) of the final meat products, obtaining interesting results from a nutritional and physicochemical point of view [22]

Development of Preservative Compounds

Whey Bioconversion

Findings

Whey Lactose Valorization