Calcium-Reduced Micellar Casein Concentrate-Physicochemical Properties of Powders and Functional Properties of the Dispersions

Anil Kommineni; Venkateswarlu Sunkesula; Chenchaiah Marella; Lloyd E Metzger

doi:10.3390/foods11101377

Calcium-Reduced Micellar Casein Concentrate-Physicochemical Properties of Powders and Functional Properties of the Dispersions

Foods. 2022 May 10;11(10):1377. doi: 10.3390/foods11101377.

Authors

Anil Kommineni¹, Venkateswarlu Sunkesula^{1

2}, Chenchaiah Marella^{1

2}, Lloyd E Metzger¹

Affiliations

¹ Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center, Dairy and Food Science Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
² Idaho Milk Products, 2249 South Tiger Drive, Jerome, ID 83338, USA.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the physicochemical properties of 30% calcium (Ca)-reduced micellar casein 80% protein powders (RC-MCC) and the functional properties of the resultant dispersions. The calcium reduction in the micellar casein (MCC) powder was achieved by subjecting the liquid micellular casein obtained from the microfiltration of pasteurized skim milk to carbon dioxide (CO2) treatment before and during ultrafiltration. The CO2 injection was controlled to obtain a 0 and 30% reduction in calcium in the C-MCC (control) and RC-MCC powders, respectively. The MCC powders were tested for physicochemical properties such as chemical composition, particle size distribution, and bulk density. The MCC powders were reconstituted in deionized water to test the functional properties of the dispersions, i.e., solubility, viscosity, heat stability, emulsifying capacity, emulsion stability, foam capacity, and foam stability. The CO2 injection did not result in any significant differences in the composition except mineral contents, particularly calcium. The particle size and bulk density of RC-MCC powders were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than control powders. The RC-MCC powder dispersions showed increased heat stability compared to control, whereas no significant changes in viscosity and emulsification capacity were observed between the two dispersions. However, the emulsion stability and foam stability of RC-MCC dispersions were significantly lower than C-MCC dispersions. This study showed that by utilizing a novel microfiltration−CO2 injection−ultrafiltration process, 30% calcium-reduced MCC powder was commercially feasible. This research also provides a detailed understanding of the effect of calcium reduction on the functional properties of resultant MCC dispersions. It showed that calcium reduction could improve the solubility of the powders and heat stability and foam capacity of the dispersions.

Keywords: CO2 injection; emulsification; foaming; functional properties; heat stability; reduced calcium micellar casein concentrate; solubility; ultrafiltration; viscosity.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center (MDFRC), South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA and the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA.