Kinetics of milk coagulation: II. Kinetics of the secondary phase: micelle flocculation

A kinetic model for the agglomeration of milk micelles following kappa-casein hydrolysis is described. The key features of the model are: (1) the surface potential of casein micelles is sufficient to explain the colloidal stability of the milk system; (2) the reduction in surface potential following kappa-casein hydrolysis explains the loss of stability; (3) partial hydrolysis leads to limited agglomeration; and (4) the kinetics of agglomeration are compatible with the theory that completely hydrolyzed micelles have only a limited number of interaction sites. The model accurately predicts solution turbidity increase assuming that micelles have only circa 1.2 interaction sites on the average under the experimental conditions of this study.