Non-food applications of milk components and dairy co-products: A review

Milk contains a lot of different components with their own functional properties and some of them, such as casein, have been used in the manufacture of non-food technical products for many years. The present review deals with the non-food applications of (i) the major individual components of milk: proteins (casein; soluble proteins); lactose; milk fat and (ii) whey, a co-product of cheese and casein manufacture. New applications of milk proteins on a laboratory scale are focused on the manufacture of protein-based films and biomaterials. Also, fermentation of lactose and whey provides low molecular weight compounds and exopolysaccharides. These promising routes for giving added value to dairy co-products and effluents should be applied to achieving a great reduction in dairy industry wastes.