Whey

Whey is the liquid that remains after milk coagulates and the curds are separated. It contains water, lactose, minerals, and soluble milk proteins.

Casein: Casein is the family of phosphoproteins that forms most of the protein in cow’s milk. Casein proteins gather into curds during coagulation, leaving much of whey’s protein in the liquid.
Rennet: Rennet is a mixture of enzymes used to coagulate milk, especially in cheesemaking. Rennet-driven coagulation yields sweet whey from many hard and semi-hard cheeses.
Whey protein concentrate: Whey protein concentrate is a dried ingredient made by concentrating whey proteins while retaining varying amounts of lactose and minerals. It turns whey’s soluble proteins into a widely used food and supplement ingredient.
Cheesemaking: Cheesemaking is the process of coagulating milk, separating curds from whey, and developing the resulting curds into cheese. Whey arises as a large-volume liquid by-product of this process.
Whey proteins: Whey proteins are milk proteins that remain soluble when casein coagulates under ordinary cheesemaking conditions. They are whey’s defining protein fraction and include several distinct proteins.
Acidification: Acidification is the lowering of a substance’s pH by adding or producing acids. Acid coagulation produces acidic whey, with properties unlike rennet-made sweet whey.
Whey protein isolate: Whey protein isolate is a whey-derived ingredient processed to contain a high proportion of protein. Further separation reduces lactose and minerals compared with many concentrates.
Membrane filtration: Membrane filtration separates substances in a liquid by passing it through selective porous membranes. It enables processors to fractionate whey proteins, lactose, and minerals.
Lactose: Lactose is the principal sugar in milk, composed of glucose and galactose. Most milk lactose stays dissolved in the liquid whey after curds separate.
Whey drainage: Whey drainage is the separation of liquid whey from a curd mass during dairy processing. Drainage conditions affect how much liquid and dissolved material remain with the curds.

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