Application-Desalination of cheese whey.

Application-Desalination of cheese whey.

Desalination of cheese whey.

Whey is a by-product from the production of cheese or curd, nowadays one of the main products in dairy industry. However, the utilization of whey is limited by its high content of salts. Demineralization is therefore necessary for further processing of whey from the industial production of Cheddar and blue veined cheeses. Whey was microfiltrated and consequently desalted by electrodialysis. Whey with 1% w/w of NaCl was desalted in 45 minutes and more than 95% of all salts were removed. Wheys with 2 and 3% of salt were demineralized in 60 (reconstituted whey in 65) and 80 (reconstituted whey in 90) minutes, respectively. The degree of mineral salt removal was higher than 96% in all cases. In dairy industry, electrodialysis has a great potencial as an effective, modern, fast, energy saving method to perform demineralization of whey even when salted.