Recovery of soy whey protein from soy whey wastewater at various cavitation jet pretreatment time and their structural and emulsifying properties

Protein-polysaccharide composite is of great significance for the development of soluble protein recovery process. This study investigated the effects of cavitation jet (CJ) pretreatment at different time (0, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300 s) intervals on the recovery of soy whey protein (SWP) from soy whey wastewater using chitosan (CH). In addition, the structure and properties of the SWP/CH complexes were examined. The results showed that the recovery yield of SWP reached 84.44 % when the CJ pretreatment time was 180 s, and the EAI and ESI values of the SWP/CH complex increased from 32.39 m2/g and 21 min to 48.47 m2/g and 32 min, respectively. In the CJ pretreatment process, SWP promotes the recombination with chitosan through electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bond, while hydrophobic interaction is also involved. This study has guiding significance for CJ technology in the recovery and utilization of protein in industrial wastewater.