Less salt and more protein: Researchers solve the environmental and sustainability issues of dairy processing

According to data from the US Department of Agriculture, the consumption of cheese has risen sharply in recent years and is expected to continue to grow

The researchers said that the energy used in the desalination process introduced in this study was reduced by 73%, and the operating cost was only 62% of the traditional desalination system

Professor Su said: "Although excessive whey can cause some environmental pollution problems, the food industry also recognizes that it is a valuable source of nutrition

Su and his team responded to this challenge by introducing a chemical redox coupled dialysis system—the device is not much different from a battery

"Our system can restore valuable whey protein without the risk of protein aggregation or denaturation," Kim said

During the protein purification process, the positively charged sodium ions move from the feed to the redox channel and are chemically reduced at the negative electrode

"It is worth noting that the performance of protein purification and salt recovery can be maintained in multiple cycles, showing excellent stability and recyclability," Su said

Journal Reference :

1. Nayeong Kim, Jemin Jeon, Johannes Elbert, Choonsoo Kim, Xiao Su.