Technologies for Reducing Biowaste in the Dairy Industry

The work is devoted to the development of a technology for reducing the release of whey into the environment, which is produced in large volumes during traditional cheese and cottage cheese manufacturing processes. The proposed technology is based on the process of thermoacid coagulation of milk proteins, ensuring low-waste production and environmental protection by minimizing whey protein emissions and maximizing their extraction in combination with casein in the resulting protein masses. Research shows that increasing the heating temperature to 95°C decreases the mass fraction of proteins and solids in the released whey by 30.95% and 11.72%, respectively, compared to heating at 80°C. The mass fraction of whey proteins in the whey also decreases with increasing duration of heat exposure to 5 and 20 minutes by 0.36% and 2.6%, respectively. Furthermore, it was found that when the coagulation temperature of proteins in heat-treated milk (95°C, held for 5 minutes) is reduced from 95°C to 65°C, the degree of utilization of the solids in the protein masses remains at the same level. This indicates a significant reduction in the release of whey proteins into the environment. The improvement in consistency observed is important for expanding the range of protein products.