Use of ultrafiltration and supercritical fluid extraction to obtain a whey buttermilk powder enriched in milk fat globule membrane phospholipids

Whey buttermilk, a by-product from whey cream processing to butter, is rich in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) constituents, which have technological and potential health properties. The objective of this work was to produce a dairy ingredient enriched in MFGM material, especially phospholipids, from whey buttermilk. Whey buttermilk was concentrated by ultrafiltration (10×) and subsequently diafiltered (5×) (10 kDa molecular mass cutoff membrane) at 25 °C and the final retentate was spray-dried. The whey buttermilk powder was submitted to supercritical extraction (350 bar, 50 °C) using carbon dioxide. The membrane filtration removed most of the lactose and ash from the whey buttermilk, and the supercritical extraction extracted exclusively non-polar lipids. The final powder contained 73% protein and 21% lipids, of which 61% were phospholipids. This ingredient, a phospholipids-rich dairy powder, could be used as an emulsifier in different food systems.