Biotechnological valorisation of whey

Abstract

Cheese whey, the liquid remaining after the separation of milk fat and casein from whole milk, is a major problem as organic pollutant for the environmental natural quality, which demands simple and economical solutions for valorization or bioepuration. The bioconversion of lactose from whey to valuable products has been actively explored. Since whey and whey permeates contain significant quantities of carbon and nitrogen compounds, an interesting way to upgrade this effluent could be as a substrate for different fermentations. Due to the large lactose content generated, its conversion to bio-ethanol has long been considered as a possible solution for whey biovalorization. Bioactive whey proteins and peptides are gradually finding more applications not only as food or feed products but also as functional compounds to be use in the pharmaceutical field.