NUTRITIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL-CHARACTERISTICS OF WHEY PROTEINS IN FOOD-PRODUCTS

Whey proteins are well known for their high nutritional value and vers atile functional properties in food products. Estimates of the worldwi de production of whey indicate that about 700,000 tonnes of true whey proteins are available as valuable food ingredients. Nutritional and f unctional characteristics of whey proteins are related to the structur e and biological functions of these proteins. During recent decades, i nterest has grown in the nutritional efficacy of whey proteins in infa nt formula and in dietetic and health foods, using either native or pr edigested proteins. This paper focuses attention on the differences an d similarities in composition of human and bovine milks with reference to infant formula. More desirable milk protein composition for consum ption by humans is obtained by the addition of lactoferrin and more sp ecific fractionations of proteins from bovine milk. Optimization of he ating processes is important to minimize the destruction of milk compo nents during fractionation and preservation processes. Some functional characteristics of whey proteins are discussed in relation to their p roperties for application in food products. Information obtained from functional characterization tests in model systems is more suitable to explain retroactively protein behavior in complex food systems than t o predict functionality.