This study assessed the concentration of whey protein fractions in different dairy matrices, including raw milk (RM), pasteurized milk (PM), cheese whey (CW), and Ricotta cheese whey (RW) collected along the production of mozzarella and Asiago cheeses. A linear mixed model was implemented in order to analyze the variability of bovine serum albumin (BSA), lactoferrin (LF), α-Lactalbumin (α-LA), β-lactoglobulin A (β-LG A) and B (β-LG B). Results suggest that analyzed dairy matrices are characterized by specific whey protein profiles. Lactoferrin and α-LA concentrations linearly decreased due to technological processing stages, while BSA, β-LG A and β-LG B declined mainly in RW (i.e. after Ricotta production). In terms of relative abundance, LF was least abundant in RM, PM, and CW but most prominent in RW. Despite challenges posed by pasteurization and cheese making, CW remained a substantial source of LF and whey proteins, offering potential for economical and nutritional applications.

本研究评估了不同乳制品基质中乳清蛋白组分的浓度，包括在马苏里拉奶酪和 Asiago 奶酪生产过程中收集的生奶 (RM)、巴氏灭菌奶 (PM)、奶酪乳清 (CW) 和乳清干酪乳清 (RW)。采用线性混合模型来分析牛血清白蛋白 (BSA)、乳铁蛋白 (LF)、α-乳白蛋白 (α-LA)、β-乳球蛋白 A (β-L A) 和 B (β-LG) 的变异性B）。结果表明，分析的乳制品基质具有特定的乳清蛋白特征。乳铁蛋白和α-LA浓度由于工艺处理阶段而线性下降，而BSA、β-LG A和β-LG B浓度主要在RW中（即乳清干酪生产后）下降。就相对丰度而言，LF 在 RM、PM 和 CW 中最丰富，但在 RW 中最丰富。尽管巴氏灭菌和奶酪制作带来了挑战，CW 仍然是 LF 和乳清蛋白的重要来源，为经济和营养应用提供了潜力。