Butter composition control

Composition control of the butter fat content has received much attention in the ever present drive to maximize returns and create highly consistent products. As noted, multiple technologies are under development to standardize and simplify... 

PUFAs is increased. The C22 PUFAs were only those derived from the lino-lenic acid family (n-3). The influence of dietary saturated fatty acids on the relative concentration of saturates in these two major phospholipids was generally not apparent from the results from various laboratories. In a recent study, however, in which the addition of saturated fatty acids (in the form of cocoa butter) was controlled, it became evident that the addition of saturated fatty acids in the diet significantly increased the level of saturates in both PC (Table XIX) and PE (Table XV) (Kramer et a/., 1982). For detailed fatty acid composition of the dietary oils see Table XXX in Chapter 17. 

Textural characteristics of butter significantly depend on milkfat composition and the method of manufacture. If the chemical composition of the milkfat is known, it is possible to select the appropriate technological parameters of the buttermaking to improve its texture. To obtain butter with constant rheological characteristics and to control the parameters of the buttermaking process, it is necessary to take into account the difference in the chemical composition and the properties of the milkfat in various seasons. Table 13 shows various compositional changes of milkfat derived from summer and winter mUk (36). 

The new European Chocolate Directive [14] allows the addition of up to 5% of vegetable fats other than cocoa butter (CB), the so-called cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs), in chocolate. CBEs resemble the chemical composition and physical properties of CB very closely, making them therefore extremely difficult to quantify and even in some cases to detect (especially at very low levels). There is a perceived need within official control laboratories for reliable analytical methods for the quantification (around the 5% level) of CBEs in chocolate, as Member States laws and administrative provisions need to comply with the new Chocolate Directive before August 2003. All proposed analytical methods have been evaluated by the JRC in collaboration with EU expert laboratories [15]. The performance of several methods has been compared and a final method based on the analysis of the main components, triglycerides, has been proposed for further validation. 

In products containing lipids, control of the crystal polymorphic form is also necessary. Lipids form different crystalline structures, or polymorphs, depending on the nature of the fat and the processing conditions. Transitions from less stable to more stable polymorphs are also dependent on composition and processing conditions. For example, tempering (or precrystallization) of chocolate is a process through which the chocolate is sequentially cooled and warmed to promote crystallization of cocoa butter into the desired polymorphic form. Controlling crystallization to produce the proper size distribution of this polymorph provides ... 

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