CHARACTERIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF PROTEINS IN WHEY OBTAINED AS A BY-PRODUCT FROM WHITE CHEESE AND YELLOW CHEESE PRODUCTION

After the cheese production process, the whey, obtained as a by-product, is not valorised and remains in the waste water which is usually disposed of in natural watercourses. The aim of the study was to analyse the profile of whey proteins, as well as, to quantify the amount of those fractions. 12.5 % SDS-PAGE was used. The total amount of proteins in whey from cow white cheese was 0.73 % ± 0.15, while in cow kashkaval whey was 0.91 % ± 0.08. In whey from white cheese, the relative protein percentages were: lactoglobulin 67.29 % ± 4.99, lactalbumin 20.64 % ± 2.02 and other fractions related to bovine serum albumin with 12.07 % ± 3.05. In whey from yellow cheese, the proteins percent-ages were: lactoglobulin 52.62 % ± 1.21, lactalbumin 17.62 % ± 1.26 and other fractions related to bovine serum albu-min with 29.74 %, respectively. Predominantly, -lactoglobulin was present in the analysed samples. The valorisation of the waste whey obtained in the white cheese production, and development of new product also contributes in the en-vironment protection.