Production of benzyl carbonyl (rose aroma) from whey and its effect on pollutant load removal

Untreated whey, which is generated in the cheese industry, is a problem of pollution because of its high organic load (HOL). Due to its richness in lactose and protein, whey can be used to produce compounds of interest, such as benzyl carbonyl (BC). BC has a rose aroma and is widely used in industry. There are few studies that used whey for the production of benzyl carbonyl, and there are virtually no nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses or studies of the effect of BC production on the reduction of HOL. The pH of sweet whey is adjusted to 4.8, which is later pasteurized at 63 °C/30 min with an initial inoculum of K. marxianus (1 × 106 CFU/mL). The NMR spectra are obtained using a spectrometer Varian® NMR, 400 MHz. The chemical oxygen demand is analyzed according to the APHA 2005 standard methods. The content of residual lactose is 0.45 g/L (96 h), with an efficiency of removal up to 99.10%. The efficiency of removal of ACO up to 97.58% is obtained, which is superior to the value previously reported in the literature, with an initial HOL concentration of 50,583 mgO2/L. The maximum throughput of BC was 1.205 g/L (48 h). The 1H NMR spectra of sweet whey presented BC signal characteristics, with two signal triplets (J = 6.4 Hz) at δ 3.9 and 3.0 ppm, which correspond to hydrogens bonded to the hydroxyl, and at δ 7.15–7.35, which correspond to aromatic hydrogens.