The present invention provides a process of producing a lactose concentrate, said process comprising the step of subjecting a partially demineralised aqueous lactose isolate to electrodialysis to produce a biotin-reduced lactose isolate containing at least 90% lactose by weight of dry matter and less than 2 mg ash per gram of lactose, and containing: 0.02-1.5 mg sodium per gram of lactose; 0.02-2 mg potassium per gram of lactose; 0.05-1.5 mg chloride per gram of lactose; 0.01-0.25 g biotin per gram of lactose.

The present invention also relates to a demineralised lactose concentrate having a reduced biotin content that can be produced by the aforementioned process. The invention further relates to an oligosaccharide-enriched biotin-reduced fraction that is obtained when lactose is separated before or after the electrodialysis step.

The invention relates to a method of separating components from milk, and the apparatus used therefor. The invention also relates to compositions prepared from the separated components. The present invention relates to nutritional milk compositions and products which are designed to include per serving size a specified percentage range of one or more components separated from milk. The compositions of the present invention can optionally include non-essential but nutritionally functional components. The complete nutritional milk compositions of the present invention can be provided as unflavored milks, flavored milks, ice creams and yogurts.

After whey protein concentration and recovery by ultrafiltration, the lactose in the permeate is further concentrated by nanofiltration, resulting in a retentate used as a substrate for enzymatic production of GOS by a ?-galactosidase enzyme. A GOS ingredient is obtained, characterized by having between 30 and 95% of GOS, which could improve the organoleptic properties (in terms of texture and flavor) of the products in which it is applied, and also giving it prebiotic properties.

Process for preparing lactose-free skimmed, partially skimmed and whole milk, comprising the following steps: 1) pasteurization and skimming, 2) enzymatic hydrolysis of the skimmed milk by lactase enzyme, 3) microfiltration of the hydrolysed skimmed milk and obtainment of a microfiltration retentate (RMF) and of a microfiltration permeate (PMF), 4) PMF ultrafiltration and obtainment of an ultrafiltration retentate (RUF) and of an ultrafiltration permeate (PUF), 5) first PUF nanofiltration and obtainment of the first nanofiltration retentate (RNF 1) and of a first nanofiltration permeate (PNF 1), 6) second PNF 1 nanofiltration and obtainment of a second nanofiltration retentate (RNF2) and of a second nanofiltration permeate (PNF2), and 7) final step: obtainment of lactose-free milk by mixing one or more of the fractions deriving from one or more of the previous steps, which is characterized in that: (I) the first nanofiltration of step 5) is carried out with membranes having a molecular weight cut-off ranging from 400 to 600 Da and the second nanofiltration is carried out with membranes having a molecular weight cut-off ranging from 150 to 250 Da, and (II) the final step 7) is carried out by mixing a composition comprising at least RUF, RNF1 and PNF2.

Dairy products are produced by subjecting a starting dairy material to nanofiltration to remove monovalent ions to produce an ion-depleted dairy permeate; passing the ion-depleted dairy permeate through an ion exchange column and subsequently with a sodium-containing eluting solution to produce sodium phosphate and sodium citrate derived from the starting material; concentrating the sodium phosphate and sodium citrate; and combining the concentrated sodium phosphate and sodium citrate with dairy components. The dairy product contains an amount of the concentrated sodium phosphate and sodium citrate sufficient to cause fat in the dairy product to be emulsified and protein in the dairy product to be hydrated. In addition or alternatively, a dairy by-product stream may be subjected to ion exchange to remove calcium therefrom; concentrated, and combined with dairy materials naturally containing phosphate and citrate in order to adjust the citrate+phosphate-to-calcium ratio to reach an emulsified dairy product.

The invention relates to a method of separating components from milk and utilizing the separated components to form blended dairy compositions. The present invention relates to nutritional milk compositions and products which are designed to include per serving size a specified percentage range of one or more components separated from milk. The compositions of the present invention can optionally include non-essential but nutritionally functional components.

The invention relates to a method of separating components from milk and utilizing the separated components to form blended dairy compositions. The present invention relates to nutritional milk compositions and products which are designed to include per serving size a specified percentage range of one or more components separated from milk. The compositions of the present invention can optionally include non-essential but nutritionally functional components.

The present invention pertains to an improved process for production of nutritional products, such as e.g. infant formulas, containing milk protein and milk saccharide. The invention is par-ticularly useful for the production of demineralized nutritional products and provides both the final nutritional product as well as milk saccharide-containing milk protein serum ingredients useful for the production of such nutritional products.

A milk protein concentrate is suggested, obtainable or obtained by: (i) skimming the cream from raw milk, obtaining a skimmed milk fraction having a dry matter content of about 5 to about 15% by weight, and particularly about 10% by weight; (ii) concentrating the skimmed milk fraction of step (i) to a dry matter content of about 45 to about 60% by weight; (iii) standardising the skimmed milk concentrate of step (ii) by adding a milk fraction; and (iv) drying the standardised skimmed milk concentrate to a powder having a dry matter content of at least 95% by weight,
with the proviso that a milk permeate is employed for standardisation, which was previously subjected to electrodialysis.

A method of making a solution containing glucose and galactose. The method includes the steps of reducing the concentration of non-protein nitrogen-containing (NPN) compounds in a dairy by-product stream comprising lactose to yield a reduced-NPN dairy by-product stream; and contacting the reduced-NPN dairy by-product stream of step (a) with an acid catalyst at a temperature of from about 120 C. to about 200 C., and for a time of from about 1 minute to about 180 minutes, wherein at least a portion of the lactose contained in the reduced-NPN dairy by-product stream is hydrolyzed to monosaccharides comprising glucose and galactose. The dairy by-product stream may be ultrafiltered prior to reducing its NPN concentration.