The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 31, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 15, 1998
New Zealand Milk Products (North Amerca) Inc., Santa Rosa, CA (US);
Abstract
A process is described for treating an approximately neutral fluid milk composition, including milk protein concentrate and milk plus added whey, by selecting an alkali, adjusting the pH upward, heating, cooling, selecting an acid, and adjusting the pH down before ultrafiltering and, in a more preferred process, thereafter diafiltering the treated composition. Selection of the appropriate alkali, pH values, temperatures, acid, and membrane filter porosity results in improved yields of retentate proteins having selected compositions with improved utility, including a more palatable flavor, a brod range of solution viscosities, an increase in the solubility of the dried retentates in cold water to nearly 100%, and an increase in the calcium content of the membrane filtered retentate by about 50% compared to a similar retentate from standard milk. Appropriate selection of processing conditions can result in at least one filter permeate with a protein composition enriched in alpha lactalbumin, a protein that is highly beneficial for human nutrition.