Chitosan-based coagulating agents for treatment of cheddar cheese whey

Chitosan-Polyanion (Chi-Pol) complexes were used as coagulating agents for treating Cheddar cheese whey. Complexation and coagulation time played a significant role in adsorption, whereas polymer concentration was significant only for chitosan-alginate complexes. Complexes of chitosan with alginate (ALG), pectin (PEC), and carrageenan (CAR) used at 30 mg complex/L whey showed turbidity reductions of 40-43% and 65-72% after 1 and 39 h, respectively. At 10 mg/L, the percent reduction in turbidity after 1 and 39 h were 35-39% and 61-64%, respectively. No significant differences in turbidity reduction (P > 0.05) were observed when using complexes at different Chi-Pol monomeric mixing ratios (MR) except for Chi-Alg at 30 mg/L, wherein reduction at 0.2 was higher than 0.8 MR. Also, UV-vis spectroscopy suggested the preference of this complex for the absorption of specific whey protein fractions. This study successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of Chi-Pol complexes in flocculation of suspended solid wastes in cheese whey with over 70% protein recovery.