Conventional and alternative concentration processes in milk manufacturing: a comparative study on dairy properties

PRESTES, Amanda Alves; HELM, Cristiane Vieira; ESMERINO, Erick Almeida; SILVA, Ramon; PRUDENCIO, Elane Schwinden

doi:10.1590/fst.08822

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Review Article • Food Sci. Technol 42 • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/fst.08822 linkcopy

Conventional and alternative concentration processes in milk manufacturing: a comparative study on dairy properties

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The concentration of dairy products is widely applied in dairy manufacturing due to obtaining products with the high dry matter, added value, reduced volume, and an increase in shelf-life. Traditional thermal concentration processes are the most applied in dairy industries, however, high temperatures can damage the bioactive compounds in milk, in addition to modifying the physicochemical, sensory, and nutritional characteristics of concentrated products. This review summarizes the importance of replacing traditional concentration methods with unconventional non-thermal processes, which can bring an option to dairy industries due to the concentration enabling the preservation of proteins, enzymes, vitamins, color, and flavor of the product. Alternative methods, such as freeze concentration, membrane separation processes, and freeze-drying, compose recent works about new methodologies to concentrate dairy products without changing specific properties and increase the quality, which is one of the main purposes for the dairy industries. Through a comparative study with recent researches, this overview highlights some alternative concentration processes that can improve the yield and increase the quality of concentrated dairy products. With new environmentally sustainable methods and the possibility of reducing the costs of the concentration process, these emerging concentration methods become attractive for dairy industries from a technological and economic perspective.

Keywords:
non-thermal processing; freeze concentration; membrane separation; freeze-drying; dairy processing; thermolabile compounds

	Process	Advantages	Disadvantages	Studies about energy expenditures
conventional concentration processes	Evaporation	-The most practical milk concentration approach;	- High temperatures may decrease milk bioactive compounds (vitamins, enzymes, proteins);	3200 kJ.kg^-1 water removed (single- effect evaporator under partial vacuum and under atmospheric pressure at boiling temperature);
		- Low energy costs using multi-stages evaporators;	- Denaturation of milk proteins may result in heat-induced fouling inside of evaporators;	900 kJ.kg^-1 (pilot-scale roller dryers in a partial vacuum chamber with a mechanical vapor recompression heating system) (Ramírez et al., 2006; Schuck et al., 2015)
		- Increased shelf-life	- Intense heat treatment can affect the pH sensibility and minerals equilibrium;	300 kJ.kg^-1 (traditional multi-stages evaporators with mechanical vapor recompression- MVR) (Moejes et al., 2020; Ramírez et al., 2006; Tanguy et al., 2015)
			- In specific products, undesirable changes of sensory properties (flavor, color and texture);
			- High installation and operating costs
	Spray drying	- Increased shelf-life;	- Decrease in milk thermolabile compounds;	5256 kJ.kg^-1 for a skim milk spray-dried from 50% to 96% total solids (Ramírez et al., 2006; Schuck et al., 2015);
		- Lower storage and transportation costs;	- High energy consumption (10-20 times higher than evaporation process);	One single stage: 4900 kJ/kg water evaporated; two stages: 4300 kJ/kg; three stages 3400 kJ/kg (Ramírez et al., 2006; Schuck et al., 2015; Verdurmen & Jong, 2003)
		- Reduction of the product volume;	- To reduce energy costs, there is a need for pre-concentration (90% of the water is removed in the evaporator and only 9-10% in the spray dryer)
		-Expansion of logistic distribution;	- Changes in the fat and lactose conformation, resulting in undesirable physicochemical and sensory characteristics
		- Requires a noticeably short time
alternative concentration processes	Freeze concentration	- Preservation of highly heat-sensitive milk compounds;	- High investment cost in large-scale production;	335 kJ.kg^-1 water removed (which is equivalent to approximately 15% of heat addition in a single-effect evaporator) (Sánchez et al., 2010)
		- Maintenance of color and flavor;	- High refrigeration and operating costs;
		- Low deterioration due to decreased of enzymatic and microbiological activities;	- Low production rate;
		- Increased shelf-life;	- Loss of soluble solids in the ice fraction
		- Non- polluting process;
		- Without the use of preservatives and additives;
	Membrane separation	-Low energy consumption;	- Membrane pores are often clogged;	14.0-36.0 kJ.kg^-1 water removed by pressure driven membrane filtration (Moejes et al., 2020; Ramírez et al., 2006);
		- High flow rates;	- Requires high quality water for cleaning;	50.08-62.54 kJ.L^-1 of milk retentate, 18.18-21.65 kJ.L^-1 of permeate and 87.08-107 kJ for cleaning at different pressures (Bahnasawy & Shenana, 2010);
		- Improvement of the yield;	- High maintenance costs	0.6-1.5 kJs.kg^-1 for ultrafiltration of a Greek-style yogurt (Paredes Valencia et al., 2018)
		- Increased shelf-life;
		-Removal of bacterial pathogens and spores;
		- Non-polluting process;
		- Without the use of preservatives and additives
	Freeze drying	-Preservation of bioactive compounds;	- High energy consumption;
		-Maintenance of flavor and color;	- Inviable to produce in large-scale;
		- Increased shelf-life;	- Low production rate;	3820-5500 kJ.kg^-1 water removed. In 24 h, the energy consumption of all the consumers (cooling chamber, sublimation, and vacuum pump) in a freeze-dryer is 937,177.42 kJ (Bando et al., 2017; Keselj et al., 2017)
		- Facility of transport and storage;	- Requires sterile diluents on reconstitution;
		- Non-polluting process, low waste water;	- High cost and complexity of the equipment
		- Without the use of preservatives and additives;
		-Process with absence of oxygen, preventing against oxidative reactions

Process	Dairy product	Conclusions	Authors
Freeze concentration	Ice cream	The concentrated skim milk provided high viscosity and overrun. The total solids and protein content were high, influencing in the color of ice cream, with high lightness.	(Camelo-Silva et al., 2022a)
Microfiltration	Skimmed milk	Lower temperatures (4, 8, 12 °C) influenced in the MF performance, with the highest membrane fouling at 4 °C and the highest energy requirements for separation at 4 °C. The permeate, also at 4 °C, obtained the highest solid content and whey proteins dissociated.	(France et al., 2021)
Freeze concentration	Ice cream replaced by whey concentrate	The presence of whey concentrate provided a greenish yellow color in ice cream, increased the viscosity, soluble solids and overrun. The replacement with whey did not affect the microstructure of the ice crystals.	(Barros et al., 2022a)
Ultrafiltration	Milk proteins	Development of bipolar membrane electrodialysis coupled with ultrafiltration enabled the concentration of caseins in their soluble form (caseinates) or precipitated without obstructing the pores of the membranes.	(Mikhaylin et al., 2018)
Freeze drying	Petit Suisse cheese	Rheological properties slightly differed between fresh and freeze-dried samples after rehydrating. This concentration method maintained the color properties and influenced in the microstructure of protein conformation, changing the product viscosity.	(Silva et al., 2021)
Freeze concentration	Fermented lactic beverage	Whey concentrate was used to develop a probiotic and symbiotic (probiotic + inulin) fermented beverage. The use of whey concentrate and inulin contributed to an increase in apparent viscosity and soluble solids. The concentrate provided high macro and micronutrients to probiotic cells development.	(Canella et al., 2018)
Ultrafiltration	Greek-style yogurt	A Greek-style yogurt was developed with the retentate of milk ultrafiltration and avoid an acidified whey from permeate and compared to a yogurt ultrafiltered. Both samples obtained similar protein (~10%) and solid content (~17%) and the energy requirement was higher due to the membrane fouling during the procedure.	(Valencia et al., 2018)
Freeze concentration	Probiotic microcapsules produced with goat’s whey concentrate	Powders produced from goat’s whey concentrate and inulin (with high total solids content) presented water solubility and cohesiveness and provided high lightness, a greenish color and a good stability of probiotic cells at cold storage.	(Liz et al., 2020)
Freeze drying	Camel milk powder	Freeze-dried camel milk powder had the highest dispersibility (67.15%), solubility (88.77%) and the lowest acidity (0.193% vs 0.211%) when compared to a spray drying process, attributing to the non-thermal concentration process a high stability of camel milk metabolites.	(Deshwal et al., 2020)
Freeze concentration, reverse osmosis	Skimmed powdered milk	The powdered milk from a previous concentration by freeze concentration and reverse osmosis provided high solubility, whiteness and lightness when compared to an evaporation process. In addition, the powder particle size was highest for the two alternative concentration processes.	(Balde & Aïder, 2017)
Freeze drying	Symbiotic yogurt	Survival rates of L. plantarum added in microcapsules were higher after freeze-dried when compared to free cells (91.2 vs 61.7%). Cryoprotected L. plantarum microcapsules tolerate the freeze drying process, classifying the yogurt powder as a probiotic product for 10 weeks at 25 °C.	(Jouki et al., 2021)
Ultrafiltration	Cheese with concentrated sheep’s milk	The sheep milk ultrafiltration (22 °C for 30 min at 2 bar) increased the Peccorino cheese yield (17%) and provided an approximately fourfold increase in the protein (37%) and fat (29%) content.	(Faion et al., 2019)
Nanofiltration	Sweet and acid whey	Nanofiltration and electrodialysis provided 88% and 91% desalination of sweet and acid whey, which provided a high removal of minerals and organic acids with a decrease by 88% of lactic acid.	(Merkel et al., 2021)

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