Preparation of “Native” Phosphocaseinate by Combining Membrane Ultrafiltration and Ultracentrifugation

Combining membrane ultrafiltration and ultracentrifugation is proposed for developing a physical process leading to industrial production of "native" skim milk phosphocaseinate.Effect of ultracentrifugation characteristics on the composition of the separated products was studied.At 50 C, the higher the protein content of the centrifuged retentate, the higher the sedimentation yield.At lower temperatures, efficiency of ultracentrifugation decreased because of the large increase in the viscosity of ultrafiltration retentates.Protein content of sediments was not related to the protein content of the retentates but to the intensity of the centrifugal field and the centrifugation temperature.Washing of the sediment or ultracentrifugation of diafiltrated retentates led to purified phosphocaseinate.The sediment exhibited a pseudoplastic rheological behavior, and its viscosity varied strongly with the temperature.