Taking into account the large amount of whey that is produced during the cheese production process and the constant demand by society for more sustainable processes, in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the circular economy concept, it is necessary to adapt two-unit operations into a single process, allowing us to not only valorize a part of the whey but the whole process, which is known as bioprocess integration. In this sense, the adaptation of different processes, for example, physicochemical (micro, ultra and nanofiltration) and fermentation, that are commonly used to obtain proteins, lactose and other compounds with different activities (antioxidant, antifungal, etc.) could be integrated to achieve a complete recovery of the cheese whey. Likewise, keeping in mind that one of the main drawbacks of cheese whey is the great microbial load, some innovative processing technologies, such as high hydrostatic pressures, electrotechnologies and ultrasound, can allow both the development of new foods from whey as well as the improvement of the nutritional and organoleptic properties of the final products prepared with cheese, and thus reducing the microbial load and obtaining a safe product could be incorporated in the cheese whey valorization process.
Keywords: biorefining; cheese; innovative approaches; valorization; whey.