Biotechnology

Biography

Biography: Naoki Yamahata

Abstract

Whey is a main by-product of the cheese production and it contains lactose, protein, ash, fat, and other bioactive substances. Many researchers developed whey-based beverages; however, these beverages were low-alcohol content drinks, distilled liquors or mixtures of fruit. Here, we consider the raw materials and the optimal concentration of substance for the development of new fermented whey beverages conducting the sensory evaluation. Whey powder and demineralized whey (DMW) powder were dissolved in mineral water and fermented by a lactose fermenting yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus, at 30°C. After fermentation, the 33 participants in the preference test scored the fermented beverages made from whey and DMW. The score on the overall acceptability of the fermented beverages made from whey and DMW was 2.3 and 4.3 on a scale of 1 (Dislike extremely) to 7 (Like extremely), respectively. The result showed that the fermented beverage made from DMW had a better acceptance to drink. Subsequently, we determined the optimal concentration of DMW as fermented beverages comparing three different concentration of the substance, that is 10%, 15% and 20%. The fermented beverage from 20% of DMW was the best preferred by sensory evaluation and the amount of ethanol of this beverage was 9.5 v/v%. The results indicated that higher concentration of ethanol was better to develop whey-based fermented beverages. We propose that this new fermented beverage made from DMW containing high amount of alcohol could be acceptable and that other approaches to improve preference of whey-based beverages were remained.