Heat Treatment Assessment in Dairy Products
Summary
Heat treatment assessment in dairy ensures microbial safety and extends shelf life while maintaining nutritional and sensory quality. Key processes include low-temperature pasteurisation and ultra-high-temperature (UHT) sterilisation. Assessment strategies rely on detecting enzyme inactivation—typically alkaline phosphatase or lactoperoxidase—for minimal heat load, and sugar-derived markers such as lactulose, furosine and hydroxymethylfurfural for higher thermal stress. Advances in chromatography, spectroscopy and chemometric modelling now enable multi-indicator detection, from offline laboratory assays to inline and portable systems. By correlating marker levels with time-temperature profiles, dairy producers can fine-tune thermal regimes to safeguard product integrity, comply with regulations and innovate new formulations across global markets.
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Heat Treatment Assessment in Dairy Products publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in heat treatment assessment in dairy products across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Fluorescence spectroscopy: Analytical technique measuring light emitted by excited molecules to detect heat-induced compounds in dairy.
Maillard reaction: Non-enzymatic browning involving reducing sugars and amino acids during heating, forming flavour and colour compounds.
Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF): Heat-induced sugar degradation product used as a marker of thermal damage and storage conditions.
Furosine: Amino acid derivative produced from Amadori compounds, indicative of early-stage Maillard reaction in heat-treated milk.
Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS): Technique combining chromatographic separation and mass analysis for comprehensive profiling of thermal impact on milk metabolites.
References
- Validation of a Portable Fluorescence Spectroscopy System to Monitor Heat Damage in Industrially Processed Milk. Foods (2024).
- Influence of Pasteurization on Maillard Reaction in Lactose-Free Milk. Molecules (2023).
- Effects of ultra‐high‐temperature processes on metabolite changes in milk. Food Science & Nutrition (2023).
- New Trends for the Evaluation of Heat Treatments of Milk. Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry (2017).
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