WHEY RECOVERY AND NUTRACEUTICAL PRODUCTS – PRELIMINARY DATA

Mirela Ahmadi, Fl. Ciobanu, Isabella-Denisa Ciabrun, Camelia Tulcan, Cornelia Milovanov, Oana-Maria Boldura,
Narcisa Mederle, D. Dronca, Nicoleta Filimon, Mihaela Ivancia

Abstract
    Purpose of our work: This work proposed some fresh nutraceutical drinks based on whey resulted from milk processing technology. For this we collected fresh whey from a milk plant from Timis County and we prepared some beverages based on whey – as the majority ingredient. As secondary ingredients we used fresh pineapple, fresh kiwi, fresh ginger, powdered cinnamon, powdered anise, and in some products we add honey.
    Materials and methods: We proposed 4 different products with whey as a the majority ingredient: one beverage was prepared (blended) from whey, pineapple, and cinnamon; one with whey, pineapple, kiwi, and cinnamon; one with whey, pineapple, cinnamon, honey, ginger, and anise; and one prepared from whey, honey, and ginger. After 48 hours we analyzed the total content of lipids (Gerber method), acidity (Soxthlet-Henkel method), protein content (modified Steinegger method), dry matter and humidity (thermo-balance method).
    Results: The total content of lipids was 0.00% in fresh whey, and was very low in all prepared samples (0.2-0.4%); acidity was 3.8°T for whey and varied between 5.8-18.8°T in prepared samples– depending on the fruit content; total protein was registered as 1.64g/100g for whey, with variations between 1.55-2.52g/100g product; fresh whey had the highest water content (95.69%), with variations between 86.19-91.96 for our proposed whey-drinks.
    Conclusions: Whey is a valuable nutritional product that can be used for preparing fresh drinks with nutraceutical properties. Our preliminary data demonstrate that proposed drinks are very good for hydrating, being low in lipids and containing valuable and easy digesting proteins. Adding fresh pineapple, kiwi, ginger, honey and cinnamon to our products we improved the nutritive value of our products, especially by increasing the vitamins and minerals content. Also due to our ingredients we proposed four fresh nutraceutical products with very good antioxidant capacity.

Key words: whey, nutraceutical products