Abstract

GONZALEZ-TELLEZ, Juan Carlos; MUVDI-NOVA, Carlos Jesús  and  MANTILLA-CAMACHO, Claudia Milena. Valorization of acid whey through processing as a substrate for lactic fermentation. Rev. ion [online]. 2024, vol.37, n.3, pp.15-26.  Epub Nov 28, 2024. ISSN 0120-100X.  https://doi.org/10.18273/revion.v37n3-2024002.

In Colombia, whey substrate has great potential to produce lactic acid and its derivatives by fermentation. Moreover, it could contribute to the development of an emerging industry that takes advantage of by-products from the dairy industry and covers a market niche that today depends mostly on imports. In this research work, a scheme of valorization of acid whey (result of the production of string cheeses), based on stages of deproteinization, clarification, and concentration, for use in lactic fermentation was studied. The results obtained in this study show a reduction of 40 % of the protein (recovered for other uses), while concentrated whey was obtained up to a Volumetric Concentration Factor (VCF) of 4, increasing the concentration of lactose and other nutrients. Fermentations were carried out with whey: whole (untreated), deproteinized and concentrated/diluted, all at a VCF of 1, to evaluate the effect of the degree of processing on the performance of the bioprocess. Fermentations with lactose reagent grade were made as references. All the evaluated media presented complete consumption of lactose, with product/substrate yields (Yp/s) between 0.77 ± 0.03 g/g and 0.92 ± 0.03 g/g for whey media, and 0.88 ± 0.04 g/g for the reference medium. In general, it was observed that fermentations with whey reached higher productivity (between 1.25 ± 0.21 and 1.65 ± 0.35 g/L/h) compared with 0.95 ± 0.35 g/L/h for the reference medium. The statistical analysis, conducted using Tukey's test, shows that the processing stages do not significantly affect the conversion of whey to lactate.

Keywords : By-product; Dairy industry; Lactic acid; Processing scheme; Substrate.

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