Whey is a by-product of the production of various types of cottage cheese and cheese, casein, and coprecipitates. Conditions of milk coagulation directly affect the physico-chemical properties of whey and the formation of its protein profile. This fact makes it difficult to standardize the protein profile of milk whey for its further processing. Whey proteins have a great potential to release a wide range of bioactive peptides (BAP), capable of reducing the risk of a number of chronic food-related diseases. Computer modeling of an enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins is one of the ways to increase the efficiency of BAP release studies and to reduce the number of labor consuming experiments. This research is aimed at generating a digital model of the peptide complex of different whey types with predicted bioactivity, safety, and sensory properties using bioinformatic modeling approaches. The study was performed with the use of the proteomic databases tools according to the algorithm of hybrid strategy of bioinformatic modeling developed earlier. As a result of the study, taking into account the ranking of the proteins ratio in the protein profile, the hydrolysis by the protease complex chymotrypsin C-subtilisin was characterized as the maximum efficacy method to release peptides with both antioxidant and ACE-inhibitory activity. It was also observed that the bioactive peptides obtained as a result of in silico hydrolysis after GI digestion simulation can be considered safe in terms of allergic reactions and toxicological effects.

Introduction: Quality control of dairy products requires fast, accurate, and simple analytical methods. Infrared spectroscopy, often using imported instruments, is widely used, necessitating the development of Russian equivalents and the search for alternative control methods. One such method is Raman spectroscopy, which offers advantages such as lower sensitivity to water contamination in samples, high information yield, and the ability to convert spectral metrics into quantitative data. In Russia, this method is rarely used for milk quality analysis, making research into its adaptation and comparative evaluation with traditional approaches crucial. Purpose: A comparison of infrared and Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of skim pasteurized milk obtained under different temperature loads, and the determination of spectral ranges most sensitive to temperature for improving quality control methods for dairy products in Russian practice. Materials and Methods: Spectra were recorded on samples of skim pasteurized milk heated to 70, 80, and 90°C and held for 30 seconds. Milk heated to 45°C served as a control. Russian equipment was used: an Infraspek-1201 infrared spectrometer and an RS-IK785 Raman spectrometer. The spectra were analyzed using principal component analysis. Results: For the infrared spectra of the samples, changes were recorded in the regions of amides I-III (1640-1660 cm ^-1 , 1530-1550 cm ^-1 and 1230-1300 cm ^-1 , respectively), lactose (1040-1150 cm ^-1 ), lipid-protein complexes (2850-2950 cm ^-1 ) and water (3200-3400 cm ^-1 ). Visual differences in the spectral parameters were minimal visually and in terms of absorption (relative units). The principal component analysis allowed us to identify the contribution of the listed wavenumber ranges to the differences between the samples. Raman spectroscopy recorded pronounced differences in the zones of 280-520 cm ^-1 , 800-850 cm ^-1 , 1450 cm ^-1 , 1660 cm ^-1 and 2850-2950 cm ^-1 , characterizing the main components of the dairy system. A clear trend of decreasing intensity of the characteristic bands with increasing processing temperature was revealed. Principal component analysis revealed the contribution of milk components (proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) to the differences between the samples. Conclusion: The obtained data demonstrate the higher sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy in detecting thermally induced transformations of milk components compared to infrared spectroscopy. The results confirm the potential of using the Russian Raman spectrometer for assessing the quality of dairy products.

Spoilage markers that appear during food processing and storage are important quality and safety indicators. Canned milk powder is a popular raw material used in the food industry. The identification and assessment of changes occurring at each stage of its shelf life are an important food safety issue. This review systematizes the current scientific knowledge on spoilage types, markers, mechanisms, and detection. The results may help to improve the current quality control strategy for long shelf-life dairy products. The review covered Russian and English-language publications registered in eLIBRARY.RU, Google Scholar, CyberLeninka, PubMed, and ScienceDirect in 2015-2024. The article describes the degradation of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, as well as the most effective methods of its detection. The main processes affecting the quality of milk powder are protein-carbohydrate interactions, e.g., the Maillard reaction, as well as various forms of hydrolytic and oxidative spoilage. Despite the recent progress in the early detection of milk powder spoilage, this field of food science has some unresolved tasks, e.g., detection and monitoring of marker compounds that develop during technological processing. The data can be used to strategize the quality control, increase the stability, and extend the shelf life of canned milk powder.

Iodine is an essential trace element involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Its deficiency may trigger pathologies of various kinds in all age groups. Over the last 20 years, two billion people in the world have been diagnosed with iodine deficiency. In Russia, this number is 14 million. In 1994, the World Health Organization introduced several salt iodization programs, and the global level of iodine deficiency and related diseases went down. However, some countries still experience social inequality in iodized salt intake. Moreover, inorganic forms of iodine get unstable during transportation and cooking. As a result, iodized salt cannot be considered a universal method. This article features new approaches to iodine deficiency prevention, e.g., high-iodine diets. The research objective was to analyze the market of iodized dairy foods, including canned dairy products. The review featured the existing technologies of fortifying whole-milk products and canned or otherwise preserved dairy foods with iodine. Such products have some disadvantages. For instance, production of organic iodine preparations is time-consuming, and the resulting products often lack trace elements that facilitate iodine metabolism, e.g., zinc. In this connection, the functional food industry needs new food additives to iodize dairy products. Partially hydrolyzed whey proteins seem a promising raw material for iodine and zinc immobilization.

The dairy industry needs new methods for food quality assessment at all stages of production and storage. Mathematical methods offer efficient tools of product quality control. This article introduces a mathematical approach to assessing the kinetics of protein and carbohydrate profiles of milk powder to predict their transformations throughout production and storage. The study featured milk at different processing temperatures and exposure times. The analysis focused on the concentrations of compounds that mark the changes in the carbohydrate and protein profiles of milk during heat treatment. The equation of pseudo-zero-order and the Arrhenius equation were applied to carbohydrates while a first-order equation made it possible to assess the changes in proteins. The calculation algorithm was processed in Python. The lactulose, hydroxymethylfurfural, and furosine accumulations proved to depend on the integral heat load. The activation energies that provided the linearity maximum were as follows: 130 kJ/mol for lactulose and furosine; 85 kJ/mol for hydroxymethylfurfural. The calculation model failed to assess the accumulation of carbohydrate profile products during prolonged thermal exposure due to more profound product changes. β-lactoglobulin appeared to be more susceptible to thermal effects than α-lactalbumin. The activation energies for whey proteins were 72.1 and 85.1–85.7 kJ/mol, respectively. The new mathematical approach provided a reliable quantitative assessment of thermal stress that can be used for food quality control and shelf-life adjustments, e.g., in milk powder production.