Milk as a Complex Multiphase Polydisperse System: Approaches for the Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Milk is a product that requires quality control at all stages of production: from the dairy farm, processing at the dairy plant to finished products. Milk is a complex multiphase polydisperse system, whose components not only determine the quality and price of raw milk, but also reflect the physiological state of the herd. Today’s production volumes and rates require simple, fast, cost-effective, and accurate analytical methods, and most manufacturers want to move away from methods that use reagents that increase analysis time and move to rapid analysis methods. The review presents methods for the rapid determination of the main components of milk, examines their advantages and disadvantages. Optical spectroscopy is a fast, non-destructive, precise, and reliable tool for determination of the main constituents and common adulterants in milk. While mid-infrared spectroscopy is a well-established off-line laboratory technique for the routine quality control of milk, near-infrared technologies provide relatively low-cost and robust solutions suitable for on-site and in-line applications on milking farms and dairy production facilities. Other techniques, discussed in this review, including Raman spectroscopy, atomic spectroscopy, molecular fluorescence spectroscopy, are also used for milk analysis but much less extensively. Acoustic methods are also suitable for non-destructive on-line analysis of milk. Acoustic characterization can provide information on fat content, particle size distribution of fat and proteins, changes in the biophysical properties of milk over time, the content of specific proteins and pollutants. The basic principles of ultrasonic techniques, including transmission, pulse-echo, interferometer, and microbalance approaches, are briefly described and milk parameters measured with their help, including frequency ranges and measurement accuracy, are given.

A Review of Milk Frauds and Adulterations from a Technological Perspective

“…Therefore, priority is currently given to indirect methods of data collection. The analytical methods by which milk authenticity can be demonstrated are presented in Figure 3 [12,13,48,49].…”

Nutritional Content of Bromelain Enzyme Fermented Coconut Dregs as Feed for Oreochromis Niloticus

“…By using a spectrophotometer, researchers were able to determine the amount of protein present in the bromelain enzyme extracted from the crude extract of pineapple weevil. The transmitter or absorbent of a blank or comparison solution will be measured by the spectrometer, and the protein content will be determined both quantitatively and qualitatively by the spectrometer (Smirnova et al, 2020).…”

Bulk and Surface Acoustic Wave Biosensors for Milk Analysis

“…Furthermore, the viscosity is affected by mechanical and thermal treatments to which the milk was subjected. Consequently, a comprehensive analysis of milk samples requires both the specific detection of milk components, be it natural ingredients or contaminants, and the determination of the physical parameters of the milk as a whole [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ].…”

“…LFAs are mainly being used for sample screening or field tests since they are associated with the least experimental effort but may lack sufficient accuracy. In addition, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is applied to identify and detect bacterial DNA in milk [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”