Date of Award:

5-2026

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

Committee Chair(s)

Prateek Sharma

Committee

Prateek Sharma

Committee

Taylor Oberg

Committee

Joana Pico-Carbajo

Abstract

Acid whey has gained significant attention within the dairy industry due to its complex matrix and the processing challenges. This by-product contains lactose that can be isolated, hydrolyzed, and further processed to produce hydrolyzed syrup. To optimize lactose utilization, it is essential to fine-tune the kinetics of the β-galactosidase enzymes used for lactose hydrolysis. To analyze sugars in acid whey, and LC-MS-based chromatographic method was developed. Once the method was developed, the kinetics of β-galactosidase were optimized with respect to enzyme concentration, pH, and temperature. The goal was to achieve the highest possible lactose hydrolysis. The hydrolyzed acid whey was processed in a rotary vacuum evaporator to produce a high-solids syrup on a laboratory scale. Initial experiments yielded solids ranging from 60-80%. After initial experiments on the rotary vacuum evaporator, production was scaled up to pilot-plant scale. The lactose-hydrolyzed acid whey evaporated on a falling-film evaporator. A high solid hydrolyzed lactose syrup with a solids content of 75-80% was successfully produced at pilot scale.

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