The Ability of Phosphates or κ-Carrageenan to Coagulate Whey Proteins and the Possible Uses of Such Coagula in Cheese Manufacture

A method is postulated for manufacturing cheese in which whey proteins are coagulated by food-grade phosphates or anionic polyelectrolytes and the aggregates are incorporated into casein coagula produced from concentrated UF retentates. The ability of monosodium phosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, monobasic calcium phosphate, or κ-carrageenan to coagulate whey proteins to facilitate this manufacturing procedure was evaluated in solutions of whey protein concentrate at various pH and heat treatments. Treatments that were selected to produce whey protein coagulates included 0.20% tetrasodium pyrophosphate, followed by 0.15% calcium chloride after 5 min in whey protein solutions at pH 6.4, 0.05% sodium hexametaphosphate in whey protein solutions at pH 2.5, or 0.05% κ-carrageenan in whey protein solutions at pH 4.6. The treated whey protein solutions (13.3 ml) were combined with UF retentates prepared from whole milk with a concentration factor (by weight) of 4.8× (66.7 ml), the mixtures were set with rennet, and the coagula were analyzed after 20 and 30 min. Addition of solutions of treated whey protein to the UF retentate generally increased syneresis while reducing curd tension, coagulum hardness, and protein recovery (calculated) in the coagula.