Evaluating an Ultrasonic Flaw Detector-Based Method to Characterize Solubility of Whey Protein Concentrate

One of the important characteristics of powders is their ability to quickly break down and disperse. Currently, the dairy foods industry does not have a reproducible method that can quantify this behavior. A previously developed method for an ultrasonic flaw detector was used to see if an ultrasound could characterize the dissolution of whey protein concentrate with a protein content of 80% (WPC80). For this study, an ultrasonic flaw detector equipped with a 1 MHz immersion transducer was operated in a pulse-echo mode. WPC80 was aged at 25°C and 40°C for 3 weeks. After powder addition, ultrasound, focus beam reflectance measurement (FBRM), and solubility index were taken at regular intervals for 30 minutes. The time of flight and amplitude of the first and second peak were collected so that the velocity and attenuation could be calculated. Graphs of velocity and attenuation over time showed that there were differences between powders stored at different temperatures. Powders stored at lower temperatures had higher ultrasound velocities at 1800 seconds. From the attenuation data, the peak height, peak time, and area under the attenuation were extracted. The FBRM and solubility index showed that powders stored at 25°C were more soluble and these powders had a higher relative velocity at 1800 s, smaller area under the attenuation curve, lower peak height, and higher peak time. Overall, an ultrasonic flaw detector can be used for examining dissolution behavior of WPC80

Preliminary studies on in situ monitoring of lactose crystallization using focused beam reflectance measurement

Dairy Research, 2014 is known as Dairy Day, 2014Isothermal crystallization of lactose was studied at supersaturated concentrations (w/w) of 50%, 55%, and 60% at temperatures 20ºC and 30ºC using an in situ system, focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM), and a refractometer. The FBRM data were compared with Brix readings taken over time using a refractometer during isothermal crystallization. Chord length distribution obtained from FBRM in the ranges of <50 μm (fine crystals) and 50 to 300 μm (coarse crystals) were observed and evaluated in relation to the extent of crystallization and rate constant results deduced from the refractometer measurements. The measured fine crystal counts increased with supersaturated concentration and temperature during isothermal crystallization. On the other hand, coarse counts were observed to increase with decreasing supersaturated concentration and temperature. The total crystal counts (coarse + fine crystals) obtained from FBRM increased as the temperature increased at all concentrations. The robustness of FBRM in understanding isothermal lactose crystallization at various concentrations and temperatures was successfully evaluated in the study

Application of micro-and nano-bubbles as a tool to improve the rheological and microstructural properties of formulated greek-style yogurts

The objective of this study was to develop an alternative novel process technology for enhancing the rheological and functional properties of Greek-style yogurt (GSY). The GSY was formulated and prepared in the lab using micellar casein concentrate as a source of protein to achieve a protein content of 10% (w/w). The changes in physicochemical, microstructural, rheological, and functional properties of control (C-GSY) and micro-and nano-bubbles-treated GSY (MNB-GSY) were studied and compared before and after storage for 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. Before storage, the apparent viscosity at 100 s−1 (η100 ) was 1.09 Pa·s for C-GSY and 0.71 Pa·s for MNB-GSY. Incorporation of MNBs into GSY significantly (p &lt; 0.05) decreased the η100 by 30% on 1 week of storage. Additionally, the η100 of MNB-GSY was lesser than C-GSY on week 2, 3, and 4 of storage. Notable microstructural changes and significant rheological differences were observed between the C-GSY and MNB-GSY samples. Differences were also noticed in syneresis, which was lower for the MNB-GSY compared with the control. Overall, the incorporation of MNBs into GSY showed considerable improvements in rheological and functional properties. Additionally, it’s a simple, cost-effective process to implement in existing GSY production plants. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Effect of Stirring and Static Heating on Fibrilization of Milk Whey Protein: A Processing Approach

When globular proteins such as whey proteins are converted to fibril structure, the functional properties, including viscosity and water holding capacity, are improved. Consequently, they can be used as functional ingredients in a variety of foods such as yogurt and bakery products. In this study, milk whey protein isolates were converted to fibrils by heating at low pH using two different approaches to reduce fibrilization time without compromising the quality of fibrils. Fibrils were made with an intervention of stirring to reduce fibrilization time. Continuous stirring improved the quality of fibrils and speed of the fibrilization

Effect of Draining Volume on the Yield and Enrichment Ratio During Foam Fractionation of Greek Yogurt Whey

Foam fractionation was evaluated as a cost-effective method to add value to Greek yogurt whey (GYW), a co-product of Greek yogurt manufacturing. Two separate batches of GYW were obtained from a Greek yogurt manufacturer. Whey proteins present in GYW can be concentrated and manufactured as food ingredients using a low-cost foam fractionation. The objective of this study was to apply foam fractionation with different draining volumes to GYW and evaluate its enrichment and yield of whey protein. A benchtop foam fractionation setup was built in-house, and three different foam draining volumes were used to identify the optimal processing parameters for foam fractionation of GYW. All three levels of draining volume provided enrichment of whey protein in the foamate fraction, and the 33% draining volume resulted in the highest enrichment ratio of 1.59. The yield of the foam fractionation ranged from 41 to 52%, and several improvements can be implemented to increase the yield of the process, including the use of surfactants and enzymatic hydrolysis

Effects of Dietary Zinc Source and Level on Mammary Epithelia and Dairy Food Chemistry

Twelve lactating Holstein cows (132 ± 21 days in milk) were enrolled in a Latin square experiment to explore the extent to which source and amount of supplemental dietary Zn can impact barrier function of mammary epithelial tissue. Cows received either 970 mg supplemental Zn/day as ZnSO4 (LS), 1,640 mg supplemental Zn/day as ZnSO4 (HS), or 1,680 mg supplemental Zn/day as a mixture of ZnSO4 and Zn methionine complex (HC). Treatments lasted for 17 days followed by 4 days of sample collection. Blood and milk were collected and analyzed for markers of blood-milk leak including plasma lactose and α-lactalbumin and milk electrolytes. Total RNA was also isolated from milk cells and abundance of Zn transporter 2 (ZnT2) and clusterin, genes with potential impact on Zn-dependent apoptosis and cell survival, were measured. Finally, dairy food properties of milk (heat coagulation time, nonprotein nitrogen, and noncasein nitrogen) were also analyzed. Cows on the HS treatment tended to have higher feed intake than LS (P = 0.06), and milk fat percentage tended to increase for HC compared to LS (P = 0.08). No other effects on milk composition, yield, or production efficiency were observed. No effects were observed on markers of blood-milk leak, mRNA abundance of ZnT2 or clusterin, or dairy food chemistry properties. Concentration and source of dietary Zn did not impact mammary epithelial integrity in lactating cows during late lactation

Characterization of a Commercial Whey Protein Hydrolysate and Its Use as a Binding Agent in the Whey Protein Isolate Agglomeration Process

Soy lecithin is a commonly used binder in agglomerating dairy powders. Due to the increase in consumer awareness on “clean label” and also to increase the shelf-life of agglomerated whey protein isolate (WPI), the demand of lecithin-free agglomerated WPI has increased. In this work, whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) was utilized as a binder to facilitate the agglomeration of WPI. The first objective was to characterize the chemical properties of three lots of WPH obtained from a commercial manufac­turer. The degree of hydrolysis (DH) of WPH was 13.82–15.35% and not significantly (P \u3e 0.05) different between the lots. It was observed from the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) that the major whey proteins were completely hydrolyzed indicating a consistent hydrolysis between the lots. The second objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of WPH as a binder in WPI wet agglomeration. After the agglomeration was performed, agglomerated WPI samples were stored at 25°C (77°F) and analyzed for moisture, water activity, relative dissolution index (RDI), and emulsifying capacity. Moisture content (MC) of agglomerated samples was in the range of 3–15%, whereas water activity was within the range of 0.08–0.80. There was a significant (P \u3c 0.05) difference in both moisture content and water activity among the treatments. Per-wet mass, flow rate, and the WPH concentration had significant (P \u3c 0.05) effects on the MC. Moreover, all interactions among the main effects also had a significant (P \u3c 0.05) effect on MC. High MC and water activity were observed for the treat­ments with higher pre-wet volume and higher flow rate and also resulted in clumping of the powders. The treatment that had 60 g of pre-wet, 20% WPH concentration, and 5.6 mL/min flow rate combination had the highest RDI among all the samples. In conclusion, WPH can be used as a potential alternative to soy lecithin in WPI wet agglomeration

Development of a High Protein Dairy Snack Based on German-Style Quark Cheese

Current consumer trends highlight the need for developing convenient and ready-to-eat snack foods that render health benefits when consumed. Rising popularity of protein-enriched foods and beverages have led to increasing awareness among consumers of health benefits related to a dairy-rich diet. The vast majority of people have adopted this lifestyle, spotting the protein’s importance in delivering vital nutrients for health and maintenance of the body, curbing hunger, sustaining a slow release of energy, and speeding the metabolism. Innovation is the key driver for the dairy snack market. The primary objective of this project was to develop an American-sourced predominantly dairy (\u3e51%) snack which meets both the current snacking trends and REAL® Seal requirement. The research also focused on assessing the acceptance of a dairy snack (“Quick-Quark”) formulated with German-style quark cheese. An acceptance test with consumers using a 9-point hedonic and a “just-about-right” scale showed that flavor, mouthfeel, and texture attributes were within the liking rate of consumers. Furthermore, the higher protein content in the Quick-Quark gives this product an added value that may have a great influence on consumers’ preference

Application of an electronic nose coupled with fuzzy-wavelet network for the detection of meat spoilage

Food product safety is one of the most promising areas for the application of electronic noses. During the last twenty years, these sensor-based systems have made odour analyses possible. Their application into the area of food is mainly focused on quality control, freshness evaluation, shelf-life analysis and authenticity assessment. In this paper, the performance of a portable electronic nose has been evaluated in monitoring the spoilage of beef fillets stored either aerobically or under modified atmosphere packaging, at different storage temperatures. A novel multi-output fuzzy wavelet neural network model has been developed, which incorporates a clustering pre-processing stage for the definition of fuzzy rules. The dual purpose of the proposed modelling approach is not only to classify beef samples in the relevant quality class (i.e. fresh, semi-fresh and spoiled), but also to predict their associated microbiological population. Comparison results against advanced machine learning schemes indicated that the proposed modelling scheme could be considered as a valuable detection methodology in food microbiology

An Intelligent Decision Support System for the Detection of Meat Spoilage using Multispectral Images

In food industry, quality and safety are considered important issues worldwide that are directly related to health and social progress. The use of vision technology for quality testing of food production has the obvious advantage of being able to continuously monitor a production using non-destructive methods, thus increasing the quality and minimizing cost. The performance of an intelligent decision support system has been evaluated in monitoring the spoilage of minced beef stored either aerobically or under modified atmosphere packaging, at different storage temperatures (0, 5, 10, and 15 °C) utilising multispectral imaging information. This paper utilises a neuro-fuzzy model which incorporates a clustering pre-processing stage for the definition of fuzzy rules, while its final fuzzy rule base is determined by competitive learning. Initially, meat samples are classified according to their storage conditions, while identification models are then utilised for the prediction of the Total Viable Counts of bacteria. The innovation of the proposed approach is further extended to the identification of the temperature used for storage, utilizing only imaging spectral information. Results indicated that spectral information in combination with the proposed modelling scheme could be considered as an alternative methodology for the accurate evaluation of meat spoilage