CONTINUOUS FERMENTATION PROCESS

摘要

A process for the continuous fermentation of milk or whey products and by-products from which a substantial portion of the high molecular weight components has been removed comprising the steps of: (a) continuously introducing one or more milk or whey products or by-products from which a substantial portion of the high molecular weight components has been removed to an agitated fermentation vessel including one or more microorganisms capable of metabolizing lactose, glucose or galactose to produce one or more metabolic products of low molecular weight and carbon dioxide; (b) continuously passing a portion of the contents of the fermentation vessel through a filtration module to produce a permeate fraction and a retentate fraction, the filtration module including a filtration membrane having a mean pore size sufficiently small to prevent passage of substantial amounts of carbon dioxide through the membrane and having a molecular weight cutoff above the molecular weight of all or some of the one or more metabolic products of low molecular weight; (c) recovering from the permeate fraction all or some of the one or more metabolic products of low molecular weight; and (d) recycling the retentate fraction to the fermentation vessel.