Determination of the Heat Stability Profiles of Concentrated Milk and Milk Ingredients Using High Resolution Ultrasonic Spectroscopy

In the present work, we used high resolution ultrasonic spectroscopy for the analysis of heat coagulation process in milks. Two skim milks recombined from powder samples differing by their preheating treatments as well as dairy ingredients (phosphocasein, whey protein isolate, and a milk model) were monitored while submitted to a temperature of 120°C. Three stages in the precoagulation and coagulation processes can be distinguished in the ultrasonic velocity and attenuation profiles. The first stage shows a very sharp decrease in ultrasonic velocity and increase in ultrasonic attenuation. This could be attributed to fast denaturation and aggregation of whey proteins and precipitation of calcium phosphate. In the second stage, small changes in ultrasonic velocity are observed, the rate of which depends on the nature and pH of the samples. In the third stage, a sharp decrease in ultrasonic velocity and attenuation is recorded for all samples, which corresponds to the coagulation and formation of the gel network. After coagulation, a very small change in ultrasonic velocity and attenuation was observed. From the ultrasonic measurements, we determined the heat stability vs. pH profiles of the different samples studied. The observed ultrasonic attenuation profiles were also interpreted in terms of changes in the size of casein micelles and coagulation processes.