Biotechnology for Zero Waste – Emerging Waste Management Techniques (Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain (editor) etc.)

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Valorization of By-Products of Milk Fat Processing

Menon R. Ravindra, Monika Sharma, Rajesh Krishnegowda, and Amanchi

Sangma

ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Dairy Engineering and Dairy Technology, Southern Regional Station,

Hosur Road, Adugodi, Bangalore 560030, India

36.1

Introduction

The dairy industry is vital sector of the food processing industry converting raw

milk to extended shelf life and safe-to-consume products. Some of the common

elements of the product profile of dairy processing include packaged fluid milk

(pasteurized/sterilized/flavored variants), cream, butter, fermented dairy products

such as yoghurt, curd, and fermented beverages, cheese, dairy powders, ice cream,

etc. Many countries and regions also have specific products that are locally popular,

and the dairy industry often processes and markets these products as a means of

product diversification and value addition. For example, the Indian subcontinent

region is well known for the different types of indigenous sweets prepared using

heat-desiccated milk solids (khoa) and acid-coagulated milk solids (channa) and

products such as clarified milk fat (ghee), sweetened fermented milk coagulum

(shrikhand), acid-coagulated cottage cheese (paneer), etc.

During the processing of milk to the various products handled by the dairy

industry, a large number of by-products are generated. Cheese processing industry

generates a large volume of whey, which used to be a concern in terms of the

pollution potential and its treatment and disposal. However, it is now recognized

as a great nutritional resource and value proposition for the industry. Similarly,

milk fat processing also generates a significant amount of by-products. Butter

manufacture yields buttermilk as a by-product, while the heat clarification process

for ghee results in sediment popularly called as ghee residue. These by-products

could be valorized either by utilizing these as ingredients in other process lines or

by fractionating the by-product to extract valuable principals. This could, in turn,

benefit the industry by increasing the profitability through processing gains as well

as reducing the environmental foot print of the dairy industry.

Biotechnology for Zero Waste: Emerging Waste Management Techniques, First Edition.

Edited by Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain and Ravi Kumar Kadeppagari.