Synthesis of Galactooligosaccharides in Milk and Whey: A Review

Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are synthesized by the enzyme β‐galactosidase during the hydrolysis of lactose. In this so‐called transgalactosylation reaction the galactosyl moiety is transferred to another sugar molecule instead of water resulting in oligosaccharides of different chain lengths and glycosidic linkages. Because their structures are similar to oligosaccharides present in human breast milk, they act as prebiotics, which has been shown for infants and adults to be alike. While so far most of the research to maximize GOS yield has been carried out using buffered lactose solution as a starting material, more and more work is now conducted with dairy by‐products such as whey and whey permeate, or even milk, for direct GOS synthesis in order to develop new GOS‐enriched dairy products. This review aims to summarize the results obtained with various dairy liquids, and it rates their suitabilities to act as raw material for GOS production. Most of the studies using whey or milk have been carried out with enzymes from Aspergillus oryzae, Kluyveromyces lactis, Bacillus circulans, Streptococcus thermophilus, and several Lactobacillus species. As the initial lactose concentration (ILC) is known to be a crucial factor for high GOS yield, most of the research has been done with concentrated or supplemented milk and whey. However, a clear dependency on ILC could only be observed for the A. oryzae lactase, indicating a strong influence of milk components like minerals and proteins on the transfer activities of most enzymes.     

Genome-wide association study for cheese yield and curd nutrient recovery in dairy cows

Cheese production and consumption are increasing in many countries worldwide. As a result, interest has increased in strategies for genetic selection of individuals for technological traits of milk related to cheese yield (CY) in dairy cattle breeding. However, little is known about the genetic background of a cow's ability to produce cheese. Recently, a relatively large panel (1,264 cows) of different measures of individual cow CY and milk nutrient and energy recoveries in the cheese (REC) became available. Genetic analyses showed considerable variation for CY and for aptitude to retain high proportions of fat, protein, and water in the coagulum. For the dairy industry, these characteristics are of major economic importance. Nevertheless, use of this knowledge in dairy breeding is hampered by high costs, intense labor requirement, and lack of appropriate technology. However, in the era of genomics, new possibilities are available for animal breeding and genetic improvement. For example, identification of genomic regions involved in cow CY might provide potential for marker-assisted selection. The objective of this study was to perform genome-wide association studies on different CY and REC measures. Milk and DNA samples from 1,152 Italian Brown Swiss cows were used. Three CY traits expressing the weight (wt) of fresh curd (%CY_CURD), curd solids (%CY_SOLIDS), and curd moisture (%CY_WATER) as a percentage of weight of milk processed, and 4 REC (REC_FAT, REC_PROTEIN, REC_SOLIDS, and REC_ENERGY, calculated as the % ratio between the nutrient in curd and the corresponding nutrient in processed milk) were analyzed. Animals were genotyped with the Illumina BovineSNP50 Bead Chip v.2. Single marker regressions were fitted using the GenABEL R package (genome-wide association using mixed model and regression–genomic control). In total, 103 significant associations (88 single nucleotide polymorphisms) were identified in 10 chromosomes (2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19, 27, 28). For REC_FAT and REC_PROTEIN, high significance peaks were identified in Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 6 and BTA11, respectively. Marker ARS-BFGL-NGS-104610 (～104.3 Mbp) was highly associated with REC_PROTEIN and Hapmap52348-rs29024684 (～87.4 Mbp), closely located to the casein genes on BTA6, with REC_FAT. Genomic regions identified may enhance marker-assisted selection in bovine cheese breeding beyond the use of protein (casein) and fat contents, whereas new knowledge will help to unravel the genomic background of a cow's ability for cheese production.     

Delactosed permeate as a dairy processing co-product with major potential value: a review

Delactosed permeate (DLP) is the co-product generated during the separation of pre-crystallised lactose from milk and whey permeates. DLP production has grown with the increased production of high protein content ingredients such as whey protein concentrates and isolates. Although DLP is nutritionally rich, with approximately 0.5–1.5, 68–70, 9–10 and 8–9 g/100 g dry matter of protein, total sugars, total mineral and organic acids, respectively, it is still currently underutilised, mostly for animal feed or energy production. There are a number of novel, promising and sustainable DLP-derived food and non-food applications which are the subject of current research. Therefore, there exists the opportunity to exploit this dairy co-product in the development of new value-added ingredients. In this comprehensive review, DLP production, processing challenges and potential applications are discussed, along with identification and assessment of selected strategies for the valorisation of DLP.     

Functionality of spray-dried strawberry powder: effects of whey protein isolate and maltodextrin

The effectiveness of two drying agents, namely whey protein isolate (WPI) and maltodextrin (MD), was evaluated during spray-drying of strawberry puree. With the increase of WPI substitution in the feed material, the surface tension of strawberry puree decreased, and powder recovery increased. Powder recovery (R_p) increased from 39.2 ± 2.3% (S:MD:WPI = 60:40:0) to 56.5 ± 2.8% when MD was replaced by WPI (S:MD:WPI = 60:39:1). Surface morphology of powders showed that the addition of WPI resulted in shrunken particle surface, which gave rise to smaller D_B and particle size. The particles were not spherical, and even with the addition of 0.5% WPI, the particle morphology was altered. The surface shrinkage of strawberry powder increased with increase in WPI from 0.5% to 10%. The production efficiency of strawberry powder could be greatly improved when MD was replaced by 1% WPI.     

Modeling of Nanofiltration of Dye Using a Coupled Concentration Polarization and Pore Flow Model

Concentration polarization and transport through pores are used to explain the permeation of eosin dye through a nanofiltration membrane. Due to the ionic character of the dye, fixed charges in the membrane pores affect the permeation of the dye. Two transport coefficients, namely, hindered coefficients for diffusion and convection, steric hindrance factor of dye, and pore charge density are estimated by minimizing the error involved between the experimental and calculated permeate flux and concentration values. Contributions of electrical migration, convection, and diffusion towards the solute flux, have been quantified. It is found that more negative fixed charges on membrane pores leads to reduced dye concentration in the permeate.     

The impact of delactosed whey permeate treatment on shelf‐life and antioxidant contents of strawberries

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of delactosed whey permeate (DWP) treatment on antioxidant and physicochemical properties of strawberries. Fresh strawberries treated with 3% DWP were analysed for different quality, nutritional and microbiological markers during 10 days of storage at 5 °C. The results showed that DWP treatment significantly reduced incidences of decay (70%) and numbers of total aerobic counts (～1.4 Log₁₀ CFU g^?1) and yeast and moulds (～1.8 Log₁₀ CFU g^?1). DWP treatment also inhibited the loss of firmness (15%) and maintained significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher levels of vitamin C, total phenols and antioxidant activity of strawberries. Sensory scores confirmed that the DWP‐treated strawberries retained a good appearance and overall quality. The aroma and colour attributes were not reduced during storage. These results suggest that DWP treatment has potential to extend the shelf‐life and maintain the quality of strawberries during storage.     

Ionic Liquid-Based Three Phase Partitioning (ILTPP) for Lactoferrin Recovery

A novel technique called ionic liquid-based three phase partitioning (ILTPP) that combines the interesting properties of ionic liquids as extracting solvents and the advantages of interfacial partitioning for protein recovery is presented in this work. The ternary system BmimBF₄/NaH₂PO₄/H₂O is used to accumulate lactoferrin (a bovine whey with important nutraceutical properties) at the liquid-liquid interface. Between 74% and 99% of the lactoferrin is recovered at the interface, depending on the temperature, the ionic liquid content, and, especially, the salt concentration. Consequently, ILTPP can be seen as a promising technique that may overcome the drawbacks of conventional techniques to recover lactoferrin.     

Electrically Assisted Microfiltration of Whey Suspensions using Non-Circular Multichannel Ceramic Membranes

The electrofiltration performance of non-circular ceramic membranes using whey suspensions is investigated and appraised with reference to permeate flux and whey removals. Poor filtration performances were observed in the absence of an applied electric field. Increasing the applied voltages increases the permeate flux when the cathode was on the retentate side. The opposite trend is observed when the applied polarity of voltage is reversed. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals, used primarily to evaluate whey removal efficiencies, of up to 95% are achieved which increase with increasing voltages. The use of an electric field to enhance filtration is accompanied by substantial increase in energy consumption.     

Tuna oil and Mentha piperita oil emulsions and microcapsules stabilised by whey protein isolate and inulin: characterisation and stability

Whey protein isolate (WPI) and its polysaccharide complexes have been widely used to prepare oil‐in‐water emulsions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the emulsions and spray‐dried microcapsules containing tuna oil and/or mint oil and stabilised by combination of WPI with inulin in terms of physicochemical characteristics and storage stability. Stable emulsions were formed before drying. Tuna oil + Mentha piperita oil emulsions had smaller viscosity, surface tension and size than did tuna oil emulsions. Surface morphology showed that spray‐dried microcapsules were spheres but had many dents and apparent shrinkage. During storage, tuna oil and tuna oil + M. piperita oil microcapsules became larger. In the blend oil microcapsules, menthone was reduced to form menthol, loss of DHA and EPA was slightly less, the degree of oxidation characterised using peroxide value and headspace propanal was less but basically greater than half of that of WTI microcapsules.