Concentrates of sugarcane juice and whey protein: Study of a new powder product obtained by spray drying of their combinations

Abstract Sugarcane juice (JCP) and whey protein concentrate (WPC) are products of great interest due to their contributions of carbohydrates and proteins, respectively, and they have the ability to be transformed into powdered products. In this work, the influence of spray drying conditions on the processing performance and physicochemical properties of the JCP and WPC combined system were evaluated through applying a response surface methodology by central composite design. The independent variables were as follows: inlet air temperature (130–180 °C), outlet air temperature (75–90 °C), atomizer disk speed (21,000–26,000 rpm) and WPC contribution in the feed (40–90% d.b.). The results indicated that the drying process conditions had a significant statistical effect ( p