Processing and physico-chemical characterization of whole whey powder

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to produce and to characterize whey powder with high fat content resulting from whey with total content of fat and by lactose crystallization of the concentrated product. Whole whey used was resulting from Coalho type cheese production and vacuum evaporation, lactose crystallization and drying were undertaken at semi-industrial scale. Coalho type cheese is a fresh cheese, obtained by rennet coagulation without addition of starter culture, it has 36% w∙w^-1 to 45.9% w∙w^-1 of moisture and its productions leads to typical sweet whey. The whey powder composition was determined and the lactose crystallization process was described. Isotherms were constructed from equilibrium data established for whey powder and salt solutions with known water activity. The sodium concentration of the samples was determined by flame photometry. The conditions of production applied in this experiment using whole whey lead to the formation of lactose crystals presenting the recommended size and percentage of crystallization for whey powder production. The high fat concentration of the whole whey powder allows its application in the chocolate industry. The proposed method for the determination of Na in dried whey was analytically adequate.