Synthesis of a Cation-Exchange Resin by Inverse Suspension Polymerization for Lactoferrin Extraction from Whey

Lactoferrin (LF), the main iron-binding protein of milk, has important nutritional, biological, and pharmaceutical properties. It is an essential nutritional component of newborn diets and also for adult health. Small amounts of lactoferrin can be found in whey, a nutritionally and biologically useful byproduct of the dairy industry. Although the amount of lactoferrin in whey is less than that in other sources like milk and bovine colostrum, the extraction of LF from this underused source has many economic and environmental benefits. The most common technique for the isolation of LF from dairy products is the use of cation-exchange resins. Here, we present the synthesis of a strong cation-exchange resin for the extraction of high-purity lactoferrin from whey. This resin was synthesized by inverse suspension copolymerization of aqueous solutions of sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonate and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide in corn oil. The adsorption efficiency of this resin showed selective extraction of lactoferrin from four different whey sources. The adsorption efficiency of lactoferrin from these whey samples ranged from 93.8 to 97.4%.