Biopolymers: Casein – it’s preparation and use – a practical handbook

The major use of casein currently is as a foodstuff. There have been some inroads recently to using it as a renewable biopolymer resource but development is pretty much in its infancy.

The bulk of the contents of the book is derived from texts that were prominent in the early part of the twentieth century as this is when most of the work regarding this material was done.

The first part treats of the preparation of casein from milk, which is done in all cases by the precipitation of the suspended casein compound from the milk with the aid of acids or a ferment (rennet), and its purification and drying. Following this, will be described the application of the casein paints and painting, the production of putties, plastic masses, etc., and finally some of its alternative uses for further consideration.

As most of this work was done in the early part of the century this volume represents little more than a rewrite and update of Sherrer’s text on the subject – no apology is made for this as the information is invaluable and should be made accessible to the modern audience.
Finally, it should be noted that the recipes presented in this book don’t represent end products in themselves but rather points of departure for further experimentation.