JP2003505097A - Fat-reduced whey protein concentrate and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] The present invention relates to a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate (fat-reduced WPC) and a production method for producing the fat-reduced WPC. The method according to the present invention comprises the steps of concentrating the solid content of whey to obtain a WPC intermediate and diluting the WPC intermediate with water. Dilution with water lowers the ionic strength below a pre-selected value and adjusts the pH of the diluted WPC intermediate to a range of 3.8-5.0. The pH is maintained until the appropriate time for floc formation, and the floc is removed leaving the reduced fat WPC supernatant. The fat content in the obtained WPC is 4% or less, preferably 1% or less. In this way, a fat-reduced WPC powder having the same functional properties as general WPC obtained from acid WPC can also be obtained from sweet whey. In addition, the method may also provide a reduced-fat WPC with functional properties and composition equivalent to whey protein isolate (WPI) from acid or sweet whey.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001] Technical Field The present invention fat reduced whey protein concentrate and (fat reduced WPC), but are not limited, preferably, fat as a product from sweet whey (sweet whey) The present invention relates to a manufacturing method for producing a minute reduced WPC.

[0002]

[Prior art]

BACKGROUND Whey protein concentrate (WPC) and whey protein isolate (WPI) are two major products in the whey protein product field. Generally, WPC contains more than 35% protein and more than 4% fat, and WPI contains more than 80% protein and less than 2% fat. A composition of WPI having a high protein content and a low fat content as compared with WPC is preferable because it exhibits excellent functional properties. In conclusion, WPI is expected to have high market value. However, the method for producing WPI is very expensive and the yield is low (usually 50-60% with ion exchange WPI,
50-75% with ultrafiltration WPI).

WPC is used in various applications. Applications are roughly divided into two fields, one of which is nutritional and the other of which is functional. For nutritional use,
Examples include infant formulas, enteral prescription drugs, and sports drinks. On the other hand, examples of functional applications include gelling agents, foaming agents, emulsifying agents, and other reagents showing useful properties for baked products.

As for functionality, Pour-EI, A. et al. Defined as "characteristics of foods or food ingredients excluding the effects that have a nutritional effect upon use" (1981,
"Functions of Proteins: Classification, Definitions, Methodologies", Protein Functions of Food, USA). The functional properties of a protein content are affected by the composition of the content and the composition of the food system in which it is used, as well as the process conditions in preparing this food system. The main functional characteristics of the inclusions are its hydration properties (dispersibility, solubility, swelling, viscosity, gelling properties) and its surface properties (emulsion properties, foaming properties, air-water and oil-water adsorption). Gender).

WPC is an acid (mineral acid or whey of milk) or a by-product of the sweetness (cheese or rennet whey) coagulation of milk protein obtained from milk when producing cheese or casein. It can be obtained from some whey. Standard methods for producing WPC from acid or sweet whey are well known, for example, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,200,662.

Acidification to bring the pH of milk to approximately 4.6 makes the casein insoluble and, for example, coagulates in casein (mineral acid casein or milk casein) or some cheese (cottage cheese). Cause a phenomenon. Casein curd, a by-product removed from cheese curd, is known as acid whey. Other methods of producing whey include methods of coagulating casein by adding rennin and / or pepsin, a proteolytic enzyme. The whey obtained after removing the coagulated casein is known as sweet whey or cheese whey.

During the production of WPC, the acid or sweet whey is concentrated so that a product with a whey protein solids content of substantially 35% is obtained. Examples of the concentration treatment include delactose, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis, gel filtration, and ultrafiltration.

The functional performance of WPC may be lower than WPI. However, acid WP
C often has superior functions compared to WPI. Generally, cheese WP
C exhibits significantly superior functionality compared to acid WPC. The reason for this is considered to be due to the difference in fat content. That is, cheese WPC typically has a higher fat content than acid WPC. Market value of cheese WPC is acid WPC and W
Lower than PI. It is expected that the market value of cheese WPC will be improved by improving the functionality. In addition, if the fat content can be reduced to the same level as WPI, the functional characteristics can be improved to the same level as acid WPC.

That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a WPC and / or a method for manufacturing the same, which overcomes at least the above-mentioned problems and is at least an option to widen the range of selection.

Other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiments described below.

According to one aspect of the Description of the Invention The present invention provides a process for preparing fat content of 4% or less of fat reduction whey protein concentrate (WPC) from a whey, solids content of the whey A step of condensing a substance to form a WPC intermediate; a step of diluting the WPC intermediate with water to reduce ionic strength; and a pH of the diluted WPC intermediate in a range of 3.8 to 5.0. A step of adjusting the pH of the fat-reduced milk to a pH value for a certain period of time to form flocs, and a step of removing the flocs to leave a WPC supernatant containing reduced fat content. A method of making a clear protein concentrate is provided.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the step of controlling the temperature of the diluted WPC intermediate and then performing a pH adjustment is further carried out.

At this time, it is preferable to raise the temperature to 50 ° C. Alternatively, the temperature may be lowered to 10 ° C.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the pH is adjusted to within the range 4.2-4.4.

In this case, as a suitable example of the reagent added for adjusting the pH, an inorganic acid or an organic acid can be mentioned. Especially, citric acid is preferable.

Further, it is preferable to remove the flocs with a purifier after raising the temperature to 50 ° C.

In a further preferred embodiment, the concentration is carried out until the concentration of solids is in the range 12-30% total solids, more preferably more than 18%, even more preferably 23%.

[0018]   Here, ultrafiltration is mentioned as a suitable method of concentrating a solid substance.

Then, the WPC intermediate is diluted with water, and the ratio of the residue to water at that time is 1: 3.
It is preferable to be set to about 1:20.

When the content of solids in the WPC intermediate exceeds 18% total solids, the ratio of residue to water is preferably 1: 9. Further, the water is preferably demineralized water.

[0021]   In the method according to the invention, the preferred starting whey is sweet whey.

In a further preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the step of concentrating the fat-reduced WPC supernatant to a solid content and then making it into a dry powder product is carried out.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a WPC obtained from sweet whey and having at least equivalent functional properties to a general WPC obtained from acid whey by a general method. It

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a WPC obtained from an acid or sweet whey and having functional characteristics equivalent to those of a general WPI.

Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent by considering the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings and / or examples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The process according to the invention is shown generally in FIG. 1 and comprises the step of treating whey (preferably sweet whey) to produce a reduced fat WPC. is there. As shown in FIG. 1, roughly, WPC containing a solid content in the step of concentrating solid components of whey and preferably in the range of 12% to 30% total solids by ultrafiltration treatment.
And a step of obtaining an intermediate. The solid content is preferably more than 18%,
The maximum value of the actual content is 30%. The WPC intermediate is then diluted with water,
This results in a low ionic strength WPC residue. The dilution rate varies depending on the solid content of the WPC intermediate, but is within the range of residue: water = 1: 3 to 1:20. Above the preferred solids content of 18%, a ratio of approximately 1: 9 is appropriate. The diluted residue is adjusted to a selected degree of pH within 3.8-5.0 and then subjected to conditions such that flocs are formed for a certain period of time. Separation of flocs containing a high proportion of fat leaves a low-fat supernatant, then
This supernatant is processed to obtain a reduced fat WPC, which is a dry powder, for example.

The final product has a reduced lactose content and also a reduced fat content. Such a combination results in an increase in protein content. When sweet protein is used as the starting material, the fat content is reduced to less than 1%. Conventional sweet WPC has a fat content of 6 to 7%, and conventional acid WPC has a fat content of generally 4% or more. Therefore, by reducing the fat content of sweet WPC by the method according to the present invention, at least conventional acid WPC can be obtained.
A function equivalent to that of a product can be expressed. Reducing to 4% or less can approach the functional performance of WPI as well as reducing fat content to 1% or less. In other words, the method according to the invention is suitable for improving the functional properties of acid WPC.

With regard to further details of the method according to the present invention and the products obtained by the method, preferred embodiments will be illustrated and described.

Example FIG. 2 shows an outline of a manufacturing method experimentally carried out in a pilot plant.

Sweet whey was dosed to lower the pH of citric acid to 6.00. next,
The whey was indirectly heated to 73 ° C, held for 15 seconds, and then regeneratively cooled to 55 ° C. After allowing the warmed whey to stand, it was subjected to ultrafiltration (UF).
The UF used a 10 kD spiral wound membrane and repeated 13 times to increase the total solids (TS: Brix) of the whey from 6% to 23%. After the 8th time, diafiltration (DF-adding demineralized water to obtain usable high concentration) was performed. After performing the UF, the residue was cooled to approximately 4 ° C. to control the bacteria and allowed to stand.

100 liters of this sweet whey residue (23% Brix) was diluted with 900 liters of demineralized water at 50 ° C. and the residue to water ratio was approximately 10%:
90%. This mixture, which preferably has ionic strength, was stirred to form a homogeneous solution. After mixing, the diluted residue was indirectly heated to a temperature of 50 ° C.

The elevated temperature diluted residue was then acidified. Citric acid was dosed in-line to lower the pH from about 6.00 to about 4.30. The solution was held for 15 minutes and then cleared using a pilot clearer (GEA-Westphalia model KNA3). This operation of separating the flocs from the supernatant was performed by using two 0.5 mm nozzles and continuously discharging at 750 L / hr and a back pressure of 4 to 4.5 bar.

In the acidification step, other acid or mixed acid may be used. Also,
The preferred pH for forming flocs is 4.30, but the effect may be somewhat reduced, but may be in the range of 3.8 to 5.0. By adjusting the hold time, flock formation can be optimized to favor removal.

Then, the supernatant was heated to 50 ° C., and UF was performed using a membrane in which a 5 kD spiral wire was wound. This second UF step resulted in a product that was concentrated to about 20% TS (Brix). The volume concentration fraction (VCF) was approximately 10. No water for diafiltration was added.

Next, the pH of the residue was adjusted to 6.8 using a mixture of KOH and NaOH so that the final powder had a pH of 6.8 to 7.0, and then spray drying was performed.

It is easily understood by those skilled in the art that the initial solid content of the sweet whey can be changed and the ratio can be increased or decreased as compared with the above-mentioned examples. In order to obtain a WPC residue having ionic strength, the dilution rate may be increased or decreased.

As a method for separating the flocs from the supernatant, it is also a matter for those skilled in the art to easily understand that other methods such as gravity separation, filtration, and hydrocyclone are adopted.

Although the method according to the above-mentioned embodiment has a step of heating the diluted WPC residue to 50 ° C., the optimum temperature may be determined according to various factors such as the retention time and the separation method. . In this method, the diluted WPC residue is cooled to about 10 ° C. to be acidified, but a separation method other than clarification may be heating, for example.

Product Composition Table 1 shows the composition data of the products produced in the pilot plant by the method according to the invention.

[0040]

[Table 1]

As shown in this table, the by-product, floc, had a fat content of about 13%. The dry WPC final product had a protein content of about 87% and a fat content of only 1%.

Functionality test Regarding the final product prototyped in the pilot plant, functional properties, specifically, solubility, viscosity, gelation (water or saline), foaming (when sugar is present or not), acid The behavior of the beverage in the rapid test was investigated as a model food system (confectionery, infant formula, yogurt, etc.).

[0043]   The results are explained below.

1. System for Functional Testing a) Solubility It is desirable that the product does not precipitate over a wide pH range for end product applications, especially in beverages. Table 2 shows the relationship between pH and solubility of each sample.
The solubility in the pilot plant sample is significantly greater than that of the acid WPC. This shows that this sample has a narrower pH range in which a precipitate is generated and a smaller amount of precipitate is generated, as compared with the acid WPC.

[0045]

[Table 2]

B) Viscosity The relationship between viscosity and total solids in pilot plant samples is shown below in comparison with acid WPC. Viscosity is a measure of hydrodynamic properties and is important when the application is for example sauces, gravy sauces, salad dressings and the like. Viscosity properties in pilot plant samples are comparable to acid WPC.

[0047]

[Table 3]

C) Foamability Foamability is important when used for cakes, confectioneries, and the like. It is clear from Table 3 that the maximum expansion coefficient of the pilot plant sample is greater than the maximum expansion coefficient of the target product of the application, WPI, in the sugar-free foaming system. In two systems, pilot plant prototypes show superior foaming stability compared to WPI.

[0049]

[Table 4]

D) Gelation Gelation is a functional property that is important in systems such as yogurt and restructured meat. Table 4 shows the similarity between the pilot plant sample and the acid WPC (target product) when the NaCl gel is 0%. NaCl is 0.
Although no comparison was made at 4%, the pilot plant sample performance becomes worse than WPI at 2% NaCl.

[0051]

[Table 5]

E) Rapid stability test of acid beverage After heating the pilot plant sample and WPI at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes, various pH values were obtained.
The absorbance measured by is shown below. Suitably the acid beverage has a pH of 3.8. In this application where WPI is the target product, the absorbance of the two products changes little with different pH.

[0053]

[Table 6]

The undesired precipitate was only observed in the pilot plant sample when the pH was 4.0 (14.5 ml precipitate). On the other hand, with WPI, the pH
Was 4.0 ml, 2 ml, and 3.8 was 1 ml.

2. Model food system a) Coagulated yogurt Table 5 shows the similarities when the pilot plant sample and acid WPC were used for coagulated yogurt, respectively.

[0056]

[Table 7]

B) Fluidized yogurt Table 6 shows the similarities when the pilot plant sample and acid WPC were used in fluidized yogurt, respectively.

[0058]

[Table 8]

C) Infant Formulations The following results show the similarities when the pilot plant sample and acid WPC were used in the model infant formula system, respectively.

[0060]

[Table 9]

[0061]

[Table 10]

From the above, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to easily remove substantially the fat-containing flocs, and to leave the WPC final product having a high protein content and a reduced fat content. It is clear that it is possible to improve the functional properties of whey (preferably sweet whey). The functional properties of the final product obtained from the sweet whey are at least equivalent to the conventional acid WPC and the composition is similar. In addition, it can be derived from sweet or acid whey to give WPC products with functional properties substantially equivalent to WPI.

Detailed descriptions of the well-known matters referred to in this specification are omitted, but the contents thereof are incorporated and made a part of this specification.

The present invention is not particularly limited to the above-described embodiments, and any changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing the general features of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2]   3 is a flow diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ , CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, K E, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG , ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, C A, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM , DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, K E, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS , LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, R U, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM , TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A method for preparing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate (WPC) having a fat content of 4% or less from whey, which comprises concentrating a solid content of whey into a WPC intermediate. And a step of diluting the WPC intermediate with water to reduce the ionic strength, a step of adjusting the pH of the diluted WPC intermediate within a range of 3.8 to 5.0, and a pH for a certain period of time. A method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate, comprising the steps of holding to form flocs, and removing the flocs to leave a fat-reduced WPC supernatant. 2. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 1, wherein the pH is adjusted within the range of 4.2 to 4.4. 3. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 2, wherein the pH is adjusted by adding an inorganic acid or an organic acid. 4. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 3, wherein the pH is adjusted by adding citric acid. 5. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the solid content of whey is concentrated by ultrafiltration. . 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of solids is 12 to 3.
A method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate, which comprises concentrating to 0% total solids. 7. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 6, wherein the concentration of the solids exceeds 18% of the total solids. 8. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 7, which comprises concentrating until the concentration of solids becomes 23% total solids. 9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the WPC intermediate is diluted with water and the ratio of residue to water is 1: 3 to 1:20. A method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate, which comprises: 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the WPC intermediate is diluted with water, and the ratio of the residue to the water at that time is 1: 9. Method of manufacturing things. 11. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 9, wherein demineralized water is used as water. 12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a sweet whey is used as the starting whey to produce a reduced fat whey protein concentrate. Method. 13. The method of claim 1, after controlling the temperature of the diluted WPC intermediate.
A method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate, which further comprises the step of increasing the temperature to 50 ° C. to adjust the pH. 14. The method of claim 1 after controlling the temperature of the diluted WPC intermediate.
The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate, further comprising the step of lowering the temperature to 10 ° C. to adjust the pH. 15. The method for producing a fat-reduced whey protein concentrate according to claim 13, wherein flocs are removed by a clarifier. 16. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the fat-reduced WPC supernatant is concentrated to a solid content and then made into a dry powder product. Method for producing whey protein concentrate. 17. A fat-reduced whey protein concentrate produced by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the fat content is 4% or less. Whey protein concentrate with reduced fat content. 18. A fat-reduced whey protein concentrate produced by the method of claim 12, wherein:
A fat-reduced whey protein concentrate, which has at least equivalent functional properties to a general WPC obtained by a general method from acid whey. 19. A fat whey protein concentrate produced by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, which is obtained from acid whey and has a function equivalent to that of a general WPI. Whey protein concentrate with reduced fat, characterized by having specific properties. 20. A method of making a reduced fat WPC substantially as disclosed herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and / or examples. 21. A reduced fat WPC substantially as disclosed herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and / or examples.