Large-Scale Fractionation of Whey Protein Concentrates

Large-scale fractionation of whey protein concentrates was performed by pre-paratory gel filtration. A prototype of a stacked column, KS 450, packed with Sephadex ® G-75 and equilibrated with .1M phosphate buffer pH 6.3 was utilized. Both an ultrafiltered and a gel-filtered whey protein concentrate were fractionated into three different fractions, the protein composition of which was evaluated by electrophoresis, amino acid analyses, and casein estimations. The nitrogen distribution between the different fractions was also analyzed. By large-scale gel filtration, β -lactoglobulin of high purity and preparations rich in α -lactalbumin could be obtained in large quantities.