Effect of cream cooling rate and water content on butter microstructure during four weeks of storage

Dual functionality of diacylglycerols in water-in-oil emulsion gel systems

Distearin (DS) can be used as an emulsifier, due to its surface activity derived from the amphiphilic nature of the molecule, moreover, it can also crystallize and form a 3D crystal network that can induce oil gelation. The current research aimed to examine the ability to combine both emulsifying and oil gelation properties to structure and stabilize water-in-oil emulsion gel system. Different water contents and DS concentrations produce emulsion gels with different textural attributes while incorporating up to 30% of water in a 15% wt. DS-based oleogel resulted in stable white gels. Microscopy imaging confirmed the formation of a water-in-oleogel type emulsion gel characterized by DS crystallization in the continuous phase and at the interface through Pickering mechanism. A positive relation was observed between the G' and hardness values and water content, suggesting gel strengthening resulted from interactions between the DS crystals at the interface and the continuous phase, as suggested by the active filler theory. Thermal analysis revealed two broad melting events at the temperature range of 42.2-44.9 °C and 55.9-58.6 °C for emulsion gels with 10-30% water content, suggesting initial melting of β' polymorph and transition to β during melting, which was confirmed by XRD. The results showed that homogenization significantly improved the oil retention of the gels due to increased crystal surface area, while water addition slightly reduced it. Compared with traditional emulsions or oleogels, this water-in-oil gel system demonstrated prolonged stability and enhanced mechanical properties due to the dual functionality of DS at the water/oil interface and bulk.

Butter from Different Species: Composition and Quality Parameters of Products Commercialized in the South of Spain

Butter is an important product for the dairy industry due to its particular sensory attributes and nutritional value, while the variability of the composition of the fatty acids in the milk can alter the nutritional and physical properties of butter and its acceptance by consumers. Butter is highly appreciated for its distinctive flavor and aroma; however, one of its main drawbacks lies in the difficulty in spreading it at low temperatures. Several types of butter that are present in the market were used in this study. We assessed the variability in the composition of the samples regarding their texture, color properties, and volatile organic compound profiles. We analyzed samples commercially produced from sheep's milk (SB), goat's milk (GB), and cow's milk (CB); samples from the latter species with (CSB) and without salt (CB); and the low-fat (CLB) version. All the physicochemical composition parameters were significantly affected by the effect of the type of butter, although only 29 out of the 45 fatty acids examined were identified in the butter samples analyzed. The textural properties of the butters were influenced by both their solid fat content and the fatty acid profile. In addition, the origin of the milk not only affected the texture parameters but also the color of the butters and the compounds associated with traits such as odor and flavor. Through the multivariate data analysis of butter fatty acids and volatile compound percentages, we observed a clear differentiation of the samples based on the species of origin.

Improvements in makkhan (traditional Indian cultured butter) production: a review

Since Vedic times, traditional Indian cultured butter or makkhan has been one of the most demanding and extensively used food items in the village households of Indian subcontinent. Its processing and overall quality suffers due to the use of conventional practices, which has probably discouraged the production of product in organized sectors. No scientific intervention has taken place to improve the product quality and process since the inception of makkhan making. As an initiative towards the improvement, the present study is focused to prepare a detail scientific background on chemistry, quality attributes, utilization, preparation methods, and storage of product for identifying challenges and scopes of overall improvement in production status. To validate the opportunities identified for the improvements in production various approaches especially mechanized approaches are suggested in this review.

Portable NIR spectrometer for quick identification of fat bloom in chocolates

Cocoa butter provides desirable sensory properties to chocolates; however, the exposure of chocolate to temperature variations during transportation and/or storage can lead to changes in the polymorphic form of butter, with the appearance of a dull-white film on the chocolate surface, known as fat bloom. This study investigated the use of a portable NIR spectrometer combined with chemometric tools to discriminate milk chocolate, white chocolate, 40% cocoa chocolate, and 70% cocoa chocolate samples, which were subjected to temperature abuse for 6 hours. The PCA allowed separating the samples into three classes: control at 20 °C, chocolate subjected to 35 °C, and chocolate subjected to 40 °C, for each type of chocolate studied. The PLS-DA models provided sensibility, specificity, and accuracy values in the range of 80 to 100%, and allowed identifying the wavelengths associated with the different chocolates that most impacted the construction of the models.

Effect of cream aging temperature and agitation on butter properties

Aging of cream is an important process to manage production time and to produce butter with consistent quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of temperature (5, 10, and 15°C) and agitation rate (0, 40, and 240 rpm) during aging of cream on the physical properties of cream and butter in a model system. Cream's solid fat content (SFC), melting behavior, and droplet size distribution were measured during and after 90 min of aging. Butter physical properties such as melting behavior, water content, and hardness were measured. The effects of agitation on SFC and droplet size are dependent on aging and churning temperature. Solid fat content increased faster at 5°C, and the maximum SFC was the highest at this temperature. An effect of agitation on SFC was observed only when cream was aged at 15°C. Agitating cream at 40 rpm increased the droplet size regardless of aging temperature. Two melting peaks, medium melting fraction (MMF) and high melting fraction (HMF), were found in cream samples aged at 5 and 10°C, but only a HMF melting peak was seen in the cream aged at 15°C. The enthalpy of MMF in the cream aged at 10°C with 40 rpm and without agitation was significantly lower than that in samples aged at 5°C regardless of agitation rate. Butter can be formed only from cream aged under certain conditions during 14.5 min of churning, which are 5°C with high agitation and 10°C regardless of agitation level. Butter produced with cream aged at 5°C with high agitation showed significantly higher MMF and total enthalpy values. However, no significant difference in enthalpy values was observed among the butter samples made from the cream aged at 10°C. Further crystallization of MMF occurred in the butter produced with cream aged at 10°C during 24 h of storage at 5°C, whereas no further crystallization occurred in the butter made with the cream aged at 5°C with high agitation. The hardest butter was obtained when cream was aged at 5°C with 240 rpm and at 10°C with 40 rpm. Softer butter was obtained when cream aged at 10°C with 240 rpm was used. This butter also had the highest water content. This study shows that butter hardness can be tailored by changing the aging conditions of the cream. Cream can be aged at higher temperature with low agitation without altering the hardness of butter. These results will help dairy producers to optimize butter making processes to obtain desired properties in the final product.

Effect of cream fermentation on microbiological, physicochemical and rheological properties of L. helveticus-butter

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical and rheological properties of butter produced by Lactobacillus helveticus fermented cream. The incorporation of putative probiotic - the L. helveticus, to ferment cream prior to butter production was anticipated to alter the nutritional composition of butter. Changes in crude macronutrients and the resultant modification relating to textural properties of butter induced upon metabolic activities of L. helveticus in cream were focused in this research. Fermented butter (LH-butter) was produced by churning the cream that was fermented by lactobacilli at 37 °C for 24 h. Physicochemical analysis, proximate analysis and rheology properties of LH-butter were compared with butter produced using unfermented cream (control). LH-butter showed a significantly (P<0.05) higher fat content and acid value; lower moisture and ash; and was softer than the control. Cream fermentation modified nutritional and textural properties of butter in which LH-butter contained higher health beneficial unsaturated fatty acids than the control and thus rendered the product softer. Its enrichment with probiotics could thus further enhance its functional property.

The effect of butter grains on physical properties of butter-like emulsions

Milk fat exists as globules in its natural state in milk. The potential of using globular fat to modulate the rheological properties and crystallization behavior in butter-like emulsions was studied in the present work. We conducted a comparative study of butter-like emulsions, with a fat phase consisting of 0, 10, 25, 50, or 100% anhydrous milk fat (AMF), the remaining fat being butter grains, and all samples containing 20% water, to obtain systematic variation in the ratio of globular fat. All emulsions were studied over 4wk of storage at 5°C. By combining small and large deformation rheology, we conducted a detailed characterization of the rheological behavior of butter-like emulsions. We applied differential scanning calorimetry to monitor thermal behavior, confocal laser scanning microscopy for microstructural analysis, and low-field pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry to measure solid fat content. By combining these techniques, we determined that increasing the fraction of globular fat (by mixing with butter grains) decreases the hardness of butter-like emulsions up to an order of magnitude at d 1. However, no difference was observed in thermal behavior as a function of butter grain content, as all emulsions containing butter grains revealed 2 endothermal peaks corresponding to the high (32.7°C ± 0.6) and medium (14.6°C ± 0.1) melting fractions of fatty acids. In terms of microstructure, decreasing the amount of butter grains in the emulsions resulted in formation of a denser fat crystal network, corresponding to increased hardness. Moreover, microstructural analysis revealed that the presence of butter grains resulted in faster formation of a continuous fat crystal network compared with the 100% AMF sample, which was dominated by crystal clusters surrounded by liquid oil. During storage, hardness remained stable and no changes in thermal behavior were observed, despite an increase in solid fat content of up to 5%. After 28d of storage, we observed no difference in either microstructural or rheological properties, indicating that formation of primary bonds occurs primarily within the first day of storage. The rheological behavior of butter-like emulsions is not determined solely by hardness, but also by stiffness related to secondary bonds within the fat crystal network. The complex rheological behavior of milk fat-based emulsions is better characterized using multiple parameters.

The Effective Factors on the Structure of Butter and Other Milk Fat-Based Products

Butter and other milk fat-based products are valuable products for the dairy industry due to their unique taste, their textural characteristics, and nutritional value. However, an increased consumer demand for low-fat-based products increases the need for an increased essential understanding of the effective factors governing the structure of milk fat-based products. Today, 2 manufacturing techniques are available: the churning method and the emulsification method. The first is typically used for production of butter with a globular structure, which has become increasingly popular to obtain low-fat-based products, typically without presence of milk fat globules. The microstructure of milk fat-based products is strongly related to their structural rheology, hence applications. Structural behavior is not determined by one single parameter, but by the interactions between many. This complexity is reviewed here. Parameters such as thermal treatment of cream prior to butter making, water content, and chemical composition influence not only crystal polymorphism, but also the number and sizes of fat crystals. The number of crystal-crystal interactions formed within the products is related to product hardness. During storage, however, postcrystallization increases the solid fat content and strengthens the fat crystal network. The fat crystal network is strengthened by the formation of more and stronger crystal-crystal interactions due to mechanically interlinking of fat crystals, which occurs during crystal growth. Postcrystallization is directly linked to chemical composition. The initially observed microstructural difference causing different rheological behavior will disappear during storage due to postcrystallization and formation of more crystal-crystal interactions.