Dairy proteins in nutrition and food science: functional ingredients in the current global marketplace.

Abstract

As the world population exponentially grows, food production must increase to supply adequate nutrition to meet basic needs and optimize health outcomes. Developing economies around the world are expected to increase in both size and wealth as the population continues to rise, creating a global demand for dairy products due to their nutritional value, flavor, and affordability (United Nations 2013). Dairy products are a feasible means to help meet the demands of a growing world market as well as the nutritional needs of the globalpopulation.Forinstance,dairyproductsprovideanadequate source of protein that can help meet daily protein requirements to maintain positive protein balance and prevent muscle loss. Dairy proteins are of the highest quality and are considered complete proteins that contain all essential amino acids necessary to support muscle growth and maintenance. Dairy proteins such as whey and casein, derived from milk, have been shown to be superior to other protein sources in stimulating and improving muscle protein synthesis under both resting and exercise conditions (Burd and others 2012), allowing dairy to be considered an optimal protein source for regulation of muscle mass throughout the human lifespan. In addition to the role dairy proteins play in daily muscle protein synthesis, additional benefits in bone and metabolic health have been attenuated by the consumption of dairy products. Dairy products (milk, cheese, and yogurt) and their milk proteins, when consumed as part of a higher protein diet, have been shown to promote satiety (Lorenzen and others 2012), enhance glycemic regulation (El Khoury and others 2014), reduce blood pressure (Machin and others 2014), and improve body composition by preserving or increasing lean muscle mass and enhancing the reduction of fat mass during weight loss and maintenance (Josse and others 2011). Also, when consumed as part of a higher-protein diet, dairy has been shown to further enhance calcium retention and bone integrity due to the high-quality protein and calcium content of dairy products (Thorpe MP and others 2008), thereby resulting in greater long-term bone health. These metabolic and health advantages of dairy protein have led the global food and beverage industry to isolate or concentrate the protein components from milk to incorporate as value-added ingredients in a variety of different food and beverages. Dairy proteins are versatile and used by product developers to produce