Investigation of the Functional Properties of Whey Powder Produced by Traditional and Ultra-Filtration Cheese Making

In this research, two types of whey powder from traditional and UF cheese making were compared for structural components and functional properties. The effect of pH on the functional properties of the two whey powders was evaluated. Foam capacity, foam stability, water holding capacity, and emulsifying activity index were the functional characteristics that were evaluated in different pH values for two whey powder. The whey powder obtained from the traditional cheese-making compared to whey powder by UF cheese-making showed a higher percentage in terms of protein, fat, lactose, and salts, as well as the foam capacity, water holding capacity, and emulsion activity index of whey powder obtained from the traditional cheese-making was significantly (P 0.05) more than whey powder obtained from UF cheese-making. However, the foam stability of these two powders did not show a significant difference (P 0.05). This study shows that the higher quality of whey powder produced in the traditional cheese making as compared to whey powder produced by the UF cheese making can compensate for the lower traditional cheese production efficiency compared to UF cheese.