Pilot‐scale production and physicochemical characterisation of spray‐dried nanoparticulated whey protein powders
Jacob R. Guralnick, Ram R. Panthi, Francesca Bot, Valeria L. Cenini, Barry O’Hagan, Shane V. Crowley, James A. O’Mahony
Abstract
Spray‐dried whey protein isolate (WPI) powders were prepared at pilot‐scale from solutions without heat (WPI UH ), heated (WPI H ) or heated with calcium (WPI HCa ), which were analysed and compared with a control sample (WPI C ). WPI C , WPI UH , WPI H and WPI HCa solutions had whey protein denaturation levels of 0.0, 3.2, 64.4 and 74.4%, respectively. Computerised tomography scanning showed that 52.6 , 84.0, 74.5 and 41.9% of WPI C , WPI UH , WPI H and WPI HCa powder particles had diameters of ≤30 µm. WPI HCa and WPI H powders were cohesive, while WPI C and WPI UH powders were easy flowing. Marked differences in microstructure were observed between WPI H and WPI HCa . There were no measured differences in wall friction, bulk density or colour.