The firms claims its new functional product, Nutrilac SA-5505, can compete on the price stakes compared to the more expensive, and commonly used, caseinates.
"Our product can increase the sliceability of fermented dry salami sausage as well as the volume," says Jimmy Allan Larsen, customer services manager at Arla Food Ingredients.
Sourced from a bovine milk source, application trials conducted by the Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology (IRTA) in Catalonia, Spain have shown that the functional milk protein gives salami the same taste and texture as caseinate, claims the firm.
"In tests, the milk protein secures the same pH reduction as caseinate during the fermentation process - down to pH 4.9 - plus the water activity that gives salami its characteristic flavour and texture," said the Dutch company, that also offers caseins and caseinates in its product line.
In food production caseinates provide a source of protein and function as emulsifiers, water binders and whipping aids. Applications include processed meats, whipped toppings coffee whiteners, egg substitutes, and diet foods.
Salts of casein are produced by neutralising acid casein to pH 6.7 with calcium or sodium hydroxide, producing the most common forms - calcium caseinate or sodium caseinate - as well as potassium and ammonium caseinate.
Rolled out initially onto the Spanish salami market, Larsen told FoodNavigator.com the firm will also target new potential markets, including Belgium, Russia and the US.
"This is the first type of product specifically aimed at the salami market," he commented, adding that production quantities, for trials, of the milk protein sourced from bovine milk are in the region of 5 ton batches.
The product has 55 per cent protein per weight, compared to soya isolates and caseinates 90 per cent.
According to a report from market research firm Frost & Sullivan, the US protein market alone was worth $2.64 billion in 2002, with plant proteins making up 47 per cent of total revenue and the balance coming from animal proteins.
Soy protein accounted for approximately 76 per cent of the plant protein side of the market, and milk proteins came in as the dominant animal protein.