Intensified recovery of whey proteins using combination of enzyme in free or immobilized form with ultrafiltration

Abstract

Recovery of proteins from whey using ultrafiltration offers significant drawback in terms of membrane fouling, which also results in increased cost of operation. The current study focuses on developing intensified process of whey protein recovery by crosslinking the protein with the help of transglutaminase enzyme that can aid in reducing the fouling. Protein was crosslinked with the help of free transglutaminase (TG) enzyme and the parameters such as enzyme concentration, temperature and reaction time used during the crosslinking were optimized. For effective application and reusage of enzyme, enzyme was encapsulated on calcium alginate beads and the whey processed by these beads was further utilized for ultrafiltration. The operational strategy indeed resulted in relatively less fouling and better protein recovery. It was demonstrated that fouling reduced to a minimum of 9% and protein rejection increased to a highest of 85% from only 69% in control sets. It was also noticeable that cake resistance decreased after enzyme treatment when encapsulated in calcium alginate beads, also elucidating the effective reuse of the crosslinked enzyme. Overall, the work has clearly demonstrated the improvements in the whey processing leading to better ultrafiltration efficacy in terms of fouling reduction and improvement in protein rejection.