title: Separation of milk fat globules via microfiltration: Effect of diafiltration media and opportunities for stream valorization.
abstract: Milk fat globule membranes (MFGM) sourced in buttermilk have gained recent interest given their nutritional value and functional properties. However, production of isolated MFGM has been challenging given their size similarity with casein micelles, which limits attempts toward fractionation by size exclusion techniques. Therefore, the hypothesis underpinning this study is that the removal of proteins from cream before butter-making facilitates MFGM isolation. As such, milk fat globules were separated from raw whole milk via microfiltration (1.4-µm pore diameter and 0.005-m2filtration surface area) by using 3 diafiltration media; namely, skim milk ultrafiltration permeate, saline, and water. Their effects on the stability of the milk fat globules and protein permeation was elucidated. Whereas a substantial reduction in protein concentration was achieved with all diafiltration media (~90% reduction), water and saline produced negligible membrane fouling with better filtration performance. Moreover, diafiltration with skim milk ultrafiltration permeate exhibited reduced permeate flux. Colloidal stability of the resultant milk decreased with all diafiltration solutions due to changing composition and reduced apparent viscosity. Overall, microfiltration was found to be an efficient method for separation of milk fat globules from whole milk, leading to increased MFGM fragment concentration in buttermilk dry matter, thus making it more suitable for industrial utilization.
authors.affiliation: Bio-Based Colloids and Materials (BiCMat), School of Chemical Technology, Aalto University, PO Box 16300, 00076 Espoo, Finland. Electronic address: annamari.jukkola@aalto.fi.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jukkola
authors.affiliation: Valio Ltd., R&D Center, PO Box 30, 00039 Valio, Finland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Partanen
authors.affiliation: Bio-Based Colloids and Materials (BiCMat), School of Chemical Technology, Aalto University, PO Box 16300, 00076 Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: O J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.affiliation: Valio Ltd., R&D Center, PO Box 30, 00039 Valio, Finland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D043302:Cultured Milk Products / Q000032:analysis*; D005511:Food Handling; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066292:Lipid Droplets; D008823:Micelles; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D010316:Particle Size; D013696:Temperature; D014462:Ultrafiltration
chemical_list: D006017:Glycolipids; D006023:Glycoproteins; D008823:Micelles; D008894:Milk Proteins; C110367:milk fat globule
keywords: diafiltration; microfiltration; milk fat globule membrane; milk fat separation