Evaluation of Sulfopropyl Ion-Exchange Membrane Cartridges for Isolation of Proteins from Bovine Whey

Abstract

Separated Cheddar cheese whey was microfiltered to remove residual fat, and adjusted to pH 3 prior to loading into two commercially available membrane cartridges. Minerals and non-protein nitrogen did not bind to the membranes. The mass of protein bound to the membranes increased as the loading volume of whey increased, while the percentage of protein isolated from the whey decreased. Not all of the protein bound to the membranes was eluted using pH 9 buffer. An economic analysis was used for comparison of the cartridges.