The Effect of Lactose, Protein and Zinc on Biotechnological Characteristics of Cheese Whey Using Kluyveromyces Yeasts

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Biology and Bioengineering, Institute of Natural Science, Volgograd State University, Volgograd, Russia

2 Department of Animal Resources, College of Agriculture, University of Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq

3 Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq

10.30476/ijns.2025.106350.1439

Abstract

Background: In the last decade, the volume of cheese and cheese-based production has been growing steadily. This study aimed to determine the effect of lactose, protein and zinc on biotechnological characteristics of cheese whey using Kluyveromyces yeast.
Methods: The yeast strains Kluyveromyces lactis Y-2037, Y-2035 and Kluyveromyces marxianus Y-2042 were cultivated using a laboratory fermenter and orbital shaker thermostat for 72 hours at 34°C. To assess the differences related to whey composition, we changed the concentration of lactose, protein or zinc ions. Main characteristics of the investigations were yeast growth rate, lactose processing, ethanol production and fermentation efficiency.
Results: Yeast strains converted lactose from 82.7% to 89.9% and produced ethanol from 17.1 to 20.9 g-1 L-1 with a fermentation efficiency of 74.9-91.6%. The substrate feeding increased the lactose processing and ethanol production by 1.58-1.66 and 1.44-1.54 times, respectively. With a high initial lactose concentration in whey, an improvement
in bioconversion rates, and ethanol production were observed with an increase by 1.87-2.02 times.
Conclusion: Cultivation in a low-protein environment as shown to worsen the biotechnological characteristics of fermentation. High concentrations of zinc ions contributed to an increase in the efficiency of the lactose conversion to ethanol too; while the percentage of processed lactose increased by 3.1-5.1%, and fermentation efficiency increased to 14.5%. ‎

Highlights

Kais Sattwan Abbas (Google Scholar)

Kasim Sakran Abass (Google Scholar)

Keywords

References

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International Journal of Nutrition Sciences
Volume 10, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
December 2025
Pages 685-693

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