The importance of homogenization in quality control of dairy products

10 October 2023 | آتاماد |
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Considering consumers' desire to use stable dairy products during consecutive purchases, it is necessary to maintain the quality of parameters such as taste, texture, and composition. The stability of product quality requires exact control and supervision in all stages of production, which can lead to reducing waste, increasing production efficiency, and increasing the profit of producers.

One of these important and effective compounds in the results is the fat of dairy products, whose strict control is part of the labeling requirements and should be considered in the case of low-fat, semi-fat, and whole milk.

Development of dairy products

Today, dairy producers have diversified the dairy industry by producing products such as cream and yogurt, which have a higher viscosity than liquid milk. Since the analysis of such products is associated with more challenges and problems, to meet regulatory and brand requirements, we need tools that provide accurate and reliable results in a short period of time.

In the food industry, apart from dairy products, we have seen a lot of development in the field of plant milk products. According to reports, more than 77% growth is expected to happen in this field in 2027-2023.

Plant-based milk products, like animal dairy products, face challenges in the field of viscosity. However, according to the sources and raw agricultural products, there are more changes in the concentration of such products compared to animal milk.
Jackie Trudell, senior director of the global food market at PerkinElmer says: "Due to the complex analysis of high viscosity products and the presence of various influencing parameters, dairy producers must use a tool to obtain stable products. to be error-free and provide reliable results."

In a product like cream, the viscosity of the product is influenced by the amount of fat, but in yogurt, factors such as the type of heat treatment and the type of starter culture determine the viscosity.

Viscosity is different in different yogurts, such as fruit and flavored yogurt or drinking yogurt. Just as fat globules affect the accuracy of the analysis, the homogeneity of particles such as stabilizers and other non-dairy ingredients in the formulation is of particular importance, In such a way that the larger the size of the particles, the lower their uniformity in the product, causing more light scattering and this leads to errors in the tests, and on the contrary, the smaller the amount of particles and the greater their uniformity due to homogenization, the more reliable the obtained result. This is also true for plant products that contain additives such as stabilizers

A one-step process

Using the transmission technology called Fourier Transform Infrared (F TIR), which is usually used for dairy and non-dairy products, samples with a maximum of 55% fat can be analyzed during production. Therefore, by investing in an FTIR instrument that includes an inbuilt homogenizer with innovative hardware capabilities, PerkinElmer Company enables dairy analysts and producers to determine in just 30 seconds with an unusual accuracy of less than 1 % coefficient of variation (cv: coefficient of variation), analyze dairy products.

The LactoScope™ FT-A device is the most efficient mid-infrared analyzer, which homogenizes and analyzes samples of dairy and even non-dairy products within 30 seconds. This device runs on the advanced ResultsPlus ™ software and works with a touch screen and a simple interface.

compatibility with other food quality determination tools, remote monitoring of one or more tools (network control in several locations from a central point without stopping the production line by laboratory managers), company services and support through preventive maintenance for continuous production, replacement of easy parts in place, which leads to reducing the time of failure, are all other features of this device.

Considering the variety and growth of dairy products by producers, using tools that simplify processes and improve quality can be an effective step towards growth and dealing with current economic pressures.