Micellar Casein Night Protein

Casein accounts for roughly 80% of the protein in cow's milk, with whey making up most of the remainder. In milk it does not float about as loose protein but sits inside casein micelles, colloidal assemblies of alpha-s1, alpha-s2, beta and kappa casein held together by calcium ions and colloidal calcium phosphate. Thovek's micellar casein is separated by cold microfiltration of pasteurised bovine skim milk, so the micelle is never acid-precipitated, rennet-coagulated or heat-denatured and arrives in the buyer's plant in its native state. Because casein is least soluble at its isoelectric point of pH 4.6, the micelles flocculate into a soft gel at gastric pH, and that gelling behaviour is what gives the fraction its slow gastric emptying and its long-standing use as the overnight or sustained-release protein in sports nutrition. Buyers should be deliberate about which casein they are actually specifying, because the four commercial forms behave very differently. Micellar casein concentrate, the material described here, runs 80% protein and upward on the dry basis and keeps its colloidal calcium and a little residual lactose. Edible acid casein is precipitated at pH 4.6 and must carry at least 90% milk protein on the dried extract under EU Directive 2015/2203, with a maximum 12% moisture and 2% milk fat. Edible rennet casein is chymosin-coagulated, minimum 84% protein and minimum 7.5% ash. Edible caseinates are acid casein neutralised with sodium, calcium or potassium hydroxide to a pH of 6.0 to 8.0 with minimum 88% protein, and they are the ones to ask for when cold-water solubility and a clear neutral solution matter more than native structure. Two commercial facts sit on the label. This is a dairy ingredient and it contains milk, a declarable allergen under EU Regulation 1169/2011 Annex II, US FALCPA and FSSAI labelling rules, and it is not lactose free. It is bovine in origin and, because microfiltration uses no animal rennet, it is suitable for vegetarian claims but never for vegan ones; rennet casein, by contrast, is only vegetarian where a microbial coagulant was used, which is a point worth writing into the purchase specification. Technically, micellar casein builds high viscosity in water, so inclusion in ready-to-mix shakes is usually held around 20 to 30 g per serving, and it is often paired with whey where a faster fraction is also wanted.