Proceedings of National Conference on Food Science and Technology (Food Conference-2012), 10-11 August, 2012, Kathmandu, Nepal 123 Development of Whey Protein Beverage from Mozzarella Cheese Whey Sarala Prajapati 1 *, Pravin Ojha 1 and Ishwar Subedi 2 1 National College of Food Science and Technology, Khusibu, Kathmandu 2 Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, Babarmahal, Kathmandu Whey protein was precipitated from Mozzarella cheese whey by concentrating at 90 o C for 10 min at different pH. The maximum protein concentrate was achieved at a pH of 3.5 with a yield of 4.3 ± 0.1%. Furthermore, whey protein beverage was developed using different proportions of whey protein. It was found that the beverage made from 4% protein had the best sensory qualities. Shelf life studies of the beverage packed in glass bottles were done under refrigerated conditions for 60 days. The results revealed that there was a slight change in the acidity of the beverage. Microbial analysis showed an increase in the total plate count and mold count during the storage period, however, with insignificant effects on the overall quality of the product. It seems that whey protein beverage could be developed from mozzarella cheese whey and could be stored for 60 days under refrigerating conditions. Keywords: Cheese whey, Whey protein, Protein concentrate, Beverage Introduction Whey, the yellow-green liquid that separates from the curd during manufacture of cheese and casein, has long been considered by the dairy to be a waste byproduct and, thus a disposal problem. Whey is a source of biological and functional valuable protein i.e. whey protein (Legarova and Kourimska, 2010). Milk contains two major protein fraction, including casein, which provides about 80% by weight of the total protein and whey protein, which provides about 20% by weight of the total protein. The proteins appearing in the supernatant of milk after precipitation at pH 4.6 are collectively called whey proteins. These globular proteins are more water soluble than caseins and are subject to heat denaturation. The principle fractions are ß-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and immunoglobulin (Ig) and the minor proteins are lactoferrin, glycomacropeptide, lactoperoxidase (Acharya, 2010). Whey protein is a pure, natural, high quality protein of milk. It is one of the best proteins for human food use, due to its balanced amino acid profile and superior digestibility (Adhikari, 2005). Whey protein contains all of the essential amino acids, and therefore, is a high quality, “complete source” of protein (Luhovy, 2007). More specifically, whey protein are a rich source of branched chain amino acid (BCAAs), containing the highest known levels of any natural food source (Etzel, 2004). BCAAs are important for athletes, since, unlike the other essential amino acid, they are metabolized directly into muscle tissue and are the first amino acid used during periods of exercise and resistance training (Jelicic et al., 2008). Whey proteins are often the preferred source for ready-to-drink (RTD) protein beverages because of their excellent nutritional qualities, bland flavor, ease of digestibility, and unique functionality in beverage systems (Rittmanic, 2006). Whey proteins are added to a variety of foods and beverages for functionality and added nutrition. A rapidly growing area of whey protein use in foods and beverages is the sports drink category. There are two categories of whey protein-fortified drinks: those at neutral pH and those at low pH. The drinks at low pH have a clear and refreshing appearance, compared to the shake-style drinks at neutral pH (Beecher, 2006). *Corresponding author, E-mail: salucall@gmail.com