Study of Thermal Behaviour of Milk Protein Products Using a Chemometric Approach

This study deals with the evaluation of the behavior of viscosity evolution of the Milk Protein Products (MPPs) solutions in different concentrations used in different conditions of thermal processing by means of Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA). Skimmed milk powder (SMP), whey protein concentrate (WPC), milk protein concentrate (MPC), whey powder (WP) and demineralized whey powder (DWP) were analyzed; the evaluated solid-liquid ratio solutions were 0.1 g∙g-1 to 0.45 g∙g-1 of dry solids in water (DSW) for the MPC, 0.1 g∙g-1 to 0.4 g∙g-1 of DSW for the WPC and 0.5 g∙g-1 to 0.8 g∙g-1 of DSW for SMP, WP and DWP. Brazilian industrial heat treatment set ups were used, with temperatures ranging from 65°C to 95°C and retention time from 5 to 30 minutes. The results were interpreted according to the viscosities during heating and cooling, being possible to optimize the MPPs different parameters conditions with the interpretations of the viscographic profiles based on the thermal behavior of proteins, especially for the SMP, MPC and WPC. The data showed similarity in viscographic characteristics of the solutions when evaluated at 65°C for 30 minutes, at 85°C for 15 minutes and 95°C for 5 minutes, for the MPC and WPC at 95°C for 5 minutes, all of them for different concentrations of proteins in water.