A comparison of the effectiveness of sonication, high shear mixing and homogenisation on improving the heat stability of whey protein solutions

Abstract

Upon ultrasonic treatment at 20 kHz, protein aggregates in a dairy whey solution were broken down. In addition, when sonication was applied to a heated solution of denatured and aggregated proteins, there was a dramatic reduction in viscosity and aggregate size, which was maintained after re-heating. This observed heat stability may be due to shear forces that are induced by acoustic cavitation. To determine whether high shear mixing or homogenisation is able to cause similar effects to that of acoustic cavitation, sonication, high shear mixing and homogenisation were performed on 5 wt% whey protein concentrate solutions at identical energy density levels, which was based on the power drawn ..