Pre-treatment methods of Edam cheese milk. Effect on the whey composition

Edam cheese milk was subjected to high-heat treatment (HH), ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF). The effect on the recovery yield and the composition of whey was studied. Traditional Edam process was used as a reference. HH reduced the whey protein concentration of milk and whey, but the recovery from milk to whey was not affected. Reduction of whey proteins was the highest (28%) with MF treatment, during which 15% was lost in the MF permeate and 13% was co-precipitated with the cheese curd. Co-precipitation of the whey proteins was the highest (84%) with ultrafiltered milk. MF and UF treatments produced 22% less whey with increased whey protein concentration. Elevation of the cheese milk protein concentration by microfiltration or ultrafiltration decreased the recovery of fat in whey. None of the treatments decreased the residual casein concentration in whey. The protein composition was altered by UF and MF treatments, which significantly increased the caseinomacropeptide content of total protein in whey. The whey was processed into whey protein concentrate powders. The amino acid composition of the whey protein concentrate produced from microfiltration process was significantly different from the others.