Bioutilisation of whey for lactic acid production

The disposal of whey, the liquid remaining after the separation of milk fat and casein from whole milk, is a major problem for the dairy industry, which demands simple and economical solutions. The bioconversion of lactose present in whey to valuable products has been actively explored. Since whey and whey permeates contain significant quantities of lactose, an interesting way to upgrade this effluent could be as a substrate for fermentation. Production of lactic acid through lactic acid bacteria could be a processing route for whey lactose and various attempts have been made in this direction. Immobilised cell technology has also been applied to whey fermentation processes, to improve the economics of the process. A fermentative means of lactic acid production has advantages over chemical synthesis, as desirable optically pure lactic acid could be produced, and the demand for optically pure lactic acid has increased considerably because of its use in the production of poly(lactic acid), a biodegradable polymer, and other industrial applications. This review focuses on the various biotechnological techniques that have used whey for the production of lactic acid. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.