Following our policy of continuous innovation and leadership in the development of applications for Tangential Filtration technologies, Perinox has carried out trials for the production of Tvorog or Quark with different degrees of skimming using ultrafiltration, in collaboration with the Milk Technology Station of the Agrarian Institute of Castilla y León.
Through the production of Tvorog or Quark by ultrafiltration using equipment and technologies developed by Perinox, we have achieved a high-quality product with significant increases in yield.
With 3 kg of skimmed milk, we obtained 1 kg of final product.
Tvorog or Quark are mild fresh cheeses made from fermented milk, with organoleptic characteristics typical of milk: milky white color, soft body, creamy texture, easy to spread, no whey water on the surface, and a mild acidic taste.
Currently, they can be produced using traditional techniques or centrifugal separators, but in both cases there is a loss of essential components such as fat and protein. In addition, centrifugal systems do not work properly for products made from whole milk.
We have developed a production system based on ultrafiltration that works with both whole and skimmed milk, allowing the production of formulations with different fat and protein contents without the need to use diafiltration. This is a crucial point, as it minimizes energy and economic consumption compared to other market solutions.
By retaining all the fat and protein in the final product, ultrafiltration offers several advantages over other systems:
- Improved process economics
- Significant increase in yield, with proven results above 18%
- High profitability
- Creamier and more homogeneous textures
- Reduced presence of acid whey and increased water-holding capacity
- Highly flexible process, suitable for the production of other products such as fresh cheese, cream cheese, or yogurts
The trials produced the following results:
- For a Tvorog/Quark with 0.3% fat on total solids, 3 kg of skimmed milk with a solids content of 9.05% were used to obtain 1 kg of final product with 15.33% total solids.
- For a Tvorog/Quark with 9% fat on total solids, 2.8 kg of partially skimmed milk with a solids content of 11.44% were used to obtain 1 kg of final product with 22.21% total solids.
The conclusions of this study show that the use of ultrafiltration results in a high-quality product, with a considerable increase in yield and economic return compared to other alternatives.
The development carried out by Perinox allows integration into existing production lines without altering the basic production scheme, facilitating rapid implementation.
With this latest development, we continue to consolidate our position as a reference in the use of membrane filtration technologies, both for whey valorization and for the production of dairy products and other applications.
