Whey protein isolate and glycomacropeptide recovery from whey using ion exchange chromatography

Cation exchange was used to recover whey protein isolate (WPI) from sweet whey, and the effluent was fed to an anion exchanger to recover glycomacropeptide (GMP). Nearly all of the major whey proteins (alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin, immunoglobulin G, and serum albumin) and about half of the total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) were recovered by the cation exchanger. No GMP was recovered by the cation exchanger. The anion exchanger recovered nearly all of the GMP from the effluent of the cation exchanger, accounting for about half of the remaining TKN. This process is the first to simultaneously manufacture WPI and GMP from a single stream of whey, increasing the value obtained from whey.