Insoluble mineral residues from whey processing dominated by hydroxyapatite and calcium hydrogen phosphate were found to dissolve isothermally in aqueous sodium hydrogen citrate. Dissolution occurred spontaneously and the resultant homogeneous solutions were found to be supersaturated solutions in both calcium citrate and calcium hydrogen phosphate. Supersaturation was investigated by visual inspection combined with turbidity measurements and analyses of calcium and phosphorous by ICP. The maximal supersaturation was found to be proportional to total hydrogen citrate concentration. For 0.2 M hydrogen citrate, maximum calcium concentration was achieved in the first hours of dissolution resulting in the supersaturation of calcium hydrogen phosphate with a factor of 10. Calcium citrate rather than calcium hydrogen phosphate precipitated from the supersaturated solutions and the time elapsing before precipitation began, increased with increasing concentrations of excess of hydrogen citrate. This lag phase for precipitation ranged from several hours for 0.2 M hydrogen citrate to more than a day for higher hydrogen citrate concentrations, for which the solutions were saturated in calcium hydrogen phosphate and became supersaturated only in calcium citrate due to the strong binding of calcium by citrate. The appearance and decay of supersaturation was kinetically studied in order to provide the background for future exploration of whey minerals in functional foods for improved calcium nutrition.
Keywords: Calcium availability; Calcium citrate supersaturation; Hydrogen citrate; Whey minerals.
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