EFFECT OF SPRAY DRYING ON PROTEIN CONTENT OF NATURAL RUBBER SERUM (NRS)

Natural rubber latex comprises approximately 70% natural rubber serum (NRS) which is the aqueous part of the latex. The NRS is made up of mainly water and non-rubber components; sugar, protein and other lipids. The protein component of the NRS is separated using membrane separation and spray dried whereby the amino acid and protein content was monitored during the process. The optimum drying temperatures were first determined to obtain the maximum recovery of the protein powder, whereby the amino acid content was approximately 40 times that of the feed. The production of protein powder from NRS increases the rubber industry’s competitiveness through value addition to the previously discarded NRS but also to the processing industry. NRS protein powder has a great opportunity to be developed as an alternative protein source.