Novel methods to study the effect of protein content and dissolution temperature on the solubility of milk protein concentrate: Focused beam reflectance and ultrasonic flaw detector-based methods

Processing, storage, dissolution conditions, and the composition of milk protein concentrates (MPC) affect the solubility of high-protein dairy powders. Increasing the storage temperature and time decrease the solubility of MPC and milk protein isolates (MPI). The MPC and MPI are popular ingredients in high-protein food products and have a variety of protein contents. In addition, the dissolution temperature has been shown to affect the solubility of the powders. This study focused on determining how protein content and dissolution temperature affect the solubility of MPC and MPI. For this study, 11 powders were obtained from a commercial manufacturer. The powders were classified as A, B, C, and D, and they had a mean protein content of 85, 87, 88, and 90%, respectively. A 5% (wt/wt) concentration of powder was dissolved in water at 40 and 48°C. The solubility of the MPC and MPI samples were characterized using an ultrasonic flaw detector (UFD) and focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM). The UFD and FBRM data were collected every 15 and 10 s, respectively, for 1,800 s. At both dissolution temperatures, the UFD and FBRM data showed that the solubility decreased as the protein content increased. Powders A and B were found to be more soluble because they had a lower relative velocity standard deviation, high area under the attenuation curve, high peak height, and low peak time. With the FBRM, the fine and medium particle count decreased and large particle count increased as the protein content increased. Powders dissolved at 48°C typically had a lower relative velocity standard deviation, higher area under the attenuation curve, higher peak height, and lower peak time than the powders dissolved at 40°C. The FBRM showed that powders dissolved at 48°C reached a stable counts before the powders dissolved at 40°C. Overall, the study showed that increasing the protein content led to a reduction in solubility and increasing the dissolution temperature improved the solubility of the powders.