ABSTRACT

162The dairy industry generates large amounts of serum that are not used for generating high amounts of pollutants being disposed of improperly causing environmental damage. In Mexico, whey is a bioproduct of the dairy industry that has no added value and is produced in large quantities. This product has high potential to be reused as a raw material for other processes. The use of this product currently discarded, solves a clear problem of pollution and is a potential residue for integrating products into production chains, so source that promotes good sustainable management of this resource, with the use of products that are currently discarded and that cause pollution and could be used as feedstock for other processes, avoiding ecological imbalance and reinstating materials to the production chain in the dairy sector. Manufacturing of edible films from whey protein products might represent an effective means of utilization of excess whey. The formation of the heat induced gel structure involves a complex series of chemical reactions involving dissociation, denaturation, and exposure of hydrophobic amino acid residues. These reactions are influenced by experimental conditions such as protein concentration, pH, heating temperature, and ionic strength. The aim of this study was to determine the progress in the use of whey and interactions that are generated when mixed in a food matrix.