Rebecca Goodman - The effects of thermal treatments on WPPC

2026 Dairy Symposium hosted by UW–Madison: “The effects of thermal treatments on the solubility, oxidative stability, and structure of Whey Protein Concentrate” – Rebecca Goodman, food science, UW–Madison Becca earned her Bachelor’s in Food Science and a certificate in Art Studios at UW–Madison. In school, she focused on product development and organic chemistry, and co-taught the first-year chemistry laboratory. Becca joined the Ozturk lab in Summer 2024. In her free time, Becca enjoys cooking, power lifting, Ultimate Frisbee, and astronomy. In her future, Becca hopes to work in the industry for a few years before returning to school and becoming a teaching professor. Project summary: Whey protein concentrate (WPC) is a valuable co-product of cheese manufacture and an intermediate in the production of whey protein isolate (WPI) and whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC). Produced by ultrafiltration of skim whey, WPC contains residual milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) components whose structure and bioactivity are sensitive to processing history. To ensure microbial safety, WPC undergoes pasteurization at multiple stages, but increasing thermal intensity may alter protein aggregation, oxidative stability, and bioactivity retention, ultimately influencing product quality and downstream separation. In this study, pilot-scale liquid WPC was subjected to increasing pasteurization intensity, including batch pasteurization and repeated high-temperature short-time (HTST) treatments to produce batch, 2×HTST, and 3×HTST WPC. Samples were then evaluated for changes in protein and lipid oxidation, bioactivity retention, microstructure, and secondary structure, and soluble protein profile. The results of this research will help guide high-quality production of WPC and its downstream products. 🌐 VISIT OUR WEBSITE: http://dairyinnovationhub.wisc.edu 👥 OUR SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: https://x.com/dairy_hub Facebook:   / dairyinnovationhub   LinkedIn:   / dairy-innovation-hub