On quantifying the dissolution behaviour of milk protein concentrate

Milk protein concentrate (MPC) is a newly developed dairy powder with wide range of applications as ingredients in the food industry, such as cheese, yogurt, and beverage. MPC has relatively poor solubility as a result of their high protein content (40–90 wt%), with distinct dissolution behaviour in comparison to skim milk or whole milk powders. Here, a focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM) was used to monitor the dissolution process of an MPC powder, with the data used to develop a kinetic dissolution model based on the Noyes–Whitney equation. The model was used to estimate the dissolution rate constant k and the final particle size in suspension d_∞, describing dynamic dissolution behaviours and final solubility respectively of a particular powder. In this work, the effects of dissolution temperature, storage duration and storage temperature on dissolution properties of an MPC powder were also investigated. A quantitative understanding of relationship between process and storage conditions with powder functionality could be achieved from k and d_∞ profiles. This approach can potentially be applied to predict the dissolution behaviour of specific dairy powders in a more robust manner than conventional solubility tests.