Research progress on separation and purification of whey protein based on membrane technology

Whey wastewater has a high organic load. If discharged directly, it will cause serious environmental pollution and waste of protein resources. Therefore, the resource utilization of whey wastewater has attracted increasing attention. This paper briefly introduces the composition, characteristics and application of whey protein, and summarizes the application of membrane technology in whey resource utilization in recent years. First, the application of ultrafiltration and charged ultrafiltration in the separation and concentration of whey protein in the pressure-driven membrane technology is introduced. Then, the latest progress of the application of electro-ultrafiltration(EUF) and electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membrane(EDUF) in the separation and recovery of whey protein and active peptide in the process of electro-driven membrane is emphasized. In addition, the membrane fouling phenomenon in the process of whey protein separation is analyzed, and the influencing factors as well as control measures of the membrane fouling process are put forward, in order to provide a useful reference for the resource utilization of whey. Finally, it pointed out that membrane technology still has certain limitations in the separation and recovery of single whey protein and industrial scale-up, and proposed solutions and future development directions. © 2022, Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd.. All rights reserved.