PREPARATIVE ION-EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY OF PROTEINS FROM DAIRY WHEY

A preparative-scale ion-exchange chromatographic process is described for the separation of the four major proteins and lactose from sweet d airy whey. Experiments using a commercial anion-exchange resin were ca rried out to determine the optimum conditions for initially separating the proteins alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albu min, immunoglobulin G and lactose from a sweet dairy whey mixture. The separation was accomplished with simultaneous step elution changes in salt concentration and pH. It was found that the anion-exchange step was most effective in separating beta-lactoglobulin from the feed mixt ure. Following the anion-exchange separation, its breakthrough curve w as processed using a commercial cation-exchangre resin to further reco ver the valuable immunoglobulin G. The whey output from an east Tennes see cheese manufacturer was used as a feedstream for the preparative s cale experiments and as a reference in scaling to an economically opti mized production level operation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.