Calcium hydroxide in sucrose solution as a reagent for the preparation of water-dispersible calcium proteinates

Abstract

Calcium caseinate is extensively applied in nutritional work and in therapeutic practice. Precise details regarding its preparation are not available in the literature. Mechanical drying of mixtures of ammoniacal solution of casein and aqueous calcium hydroxide in our experience offered several practical difficulties. The operations became comparatively easy when a solution of calcium hydroxide in sucrose was used as the reagent. The final drum-dried product so prepared is comparable with pharmaceutical calcium caseinate in all its properties and has met our requirements for nutritional studies. It is a light, white powder, highly acceptable organoleptically, with a good water dispersibility and has a pH. of 5.8 in solution. The preparation contains 87 per cent protein, and about 6 per cent sucrose. Details of the method (Indian patent application pending) as developed by us with the use of calcium hydroxide in sucrose will be published elsewhere later. We have been regularly producing in this manner small batches of the material for our requirements from easily available and comparatively cheap commercial casein.