Stability and physical properties of recombined dairy cream: Effects of soybean lecithin

ABSTRACT

Recombined dairy cream, which primarily comprises anhydrous milk fat and milk protein, has significant advantages compared to natural cream; however, its most notable disadvantage is poor stability. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of lecithin on the stability and physical properties of recombined dairy cream (20% fat, and 1.5% protein) in terms of the creaming rate, mean oil droplet size and distribution, surface protein concentration, ζ-potential, and apparent viscosity. The results clearly showed that lecithin can significantly improve the stability of recombined dairy cream by decreasing the creaming rate, especially at a concentration of 0.6% (w/w). Increasing the lecithin concentration decreased the mean oil droplet size and the surface protein concentration but slightly increased the ζ-potential. The apparent viscosity decreased and surprisingly increased at 0.6% (w/w). We can infer that lecithin initially displaces proteins from the oil surface and may interact with both proteins and polysaccharides, forming a much more stable structure.

KEYWORDS:

• Recombined dairy cream
• Soybean lecithin
• Physical properties
• Stability

Fundings

This work was supported by the Earmarked Fund for Modern Agro-Industry Technology Research System (CARS-37) and the Planning Subject of the Twelfth Five-Year-Plan from the National Science and Technology for Rural Development in China (Grant numbers 2013BAD18B05-02 and 2013BAD18B12-05, respectively).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Earmarked Fund for Modern Agro-Industry Technology Research System (CARS-37) and the Planning Subject of the Twelfth Five-Year-Plan from the National Science and Technology for Rural Development in China (Grant numbers 2013BAD18B05-02 and 2013BAD18B12-05, respectively).