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Calcium caseinate

Milk is used as raw material for fabricating various products usable in the chemical or food industries. Milk proteins are highly desirable as ingredients in foods. In addition to their availability and high nutritive value, their utilities as food bases are enhanced by the bland products they provide. Whey is a common by-product of the manufacture of various cheese products wherein large proportions of milk are used in making cheese resulting in large amounts of whey by-product. Whey can be utilized in a process for converting casein to caseinate by controlling the pH of the whey and heating the whey with casein for time sufficient to produce caseinate. Various categories of caseinate exist, including sodium caseinate and calcium caseinate. Sodium caseinate is the result of kneading casein, sodium hydroxide, and water, while calcium caseinate is the result of kneading casein, ammonium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, and water, and possibly also ammonia. Caseinates are obtained either by the acidification with mineral acid, or by the acidification by mixed cultures made up of Streptococcus subspecies lactis and/or cremoris, at the isoelectric point of casein. The neutralization of the insoluble precipitates of casein or lactic acids by alkalis allows for the dissolution in salts of sodium of calcium, potassium, magnesium, or ammonium. Casein, the major protein component of cow's milk, and its caseinate derivatives have physicochemical, functional and nutritive properties which make them useful for such purposes. The caseinate product provides a highly nutritious, bland flavored substitute for skim milk and can be substituted directly for skim milk as a food additive without detracting from the odor, appearance, or functional characteristics of the other ingredients or of the final food products. It can also be used with skim milk to form a high milk protein product. Products containing high concentrations of caseinate have exceptional water-binding capacity, fat emulsification properties, whipping ability, and are viscous and soluble under neutral or alkaline conditions.

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