Dairy technology on the turn of the millennium

Abstract

In general, the incentive for developing new technologies is determined by a) the need for increased product safety, economy and protection of the environment for existing products; b) the demand of consumers and the market for new dairy products and for foods containing milk ingredients. Membrane technology for separation and concentration of milk offers possibilities in the manufacture of existing consumer products such as cheese, liquid and fermented milk products as well as for the preparation of tailor-made products. One of the emerging technologies is the use of ultra-high-pressure because of its marked influence on milk proteins including enzymes, on lipids and on microorganisms. As this is a very costly technology, its application within the dairy industry may, therefore, be limited to special products. Despite the fact that the manufacturing process for all fermented dairy products includes biological operations, the introduction of new biotechnological methods to transform milk ingredients, the production of specific metabolites and continuous fermentation processes will increasingly gain importance in dairy plants. Energy saving in dairy industry will remain an important task for the technologists of the future. The milk industry is facing increasing product competition. Consequently, the intensive co-operation between industry and basic research is vital.