alpha -Lactalbumin is a whey protein with high digestibility and low potential for causing allergic problems in infants, making it a strong candidate for use in infant formulas. The development of an efficient and scalable process for isolation of a-lactalbumin is necessary to allow its use on a large scale. Affinity chromatography using short peptides as ligands is a promising technique because it allows the recovery of specific proteins without the use of harsh chemicals or problems due to ligand release. In the present paper we describe the identification of the hexapeptide WHWRKR, obtained from a combinatorial library, that shows affinity for alpha -lactalbumin.