Nutritional quality of commercial butters

Abstract

The consumption and consequent production of butter has increased considerably in recent years. In order to know the butters sold in Brazil, the study aimed to analyze butters of Brazilian, French, Italian and Argentine origin. The samples were analyzed for fat content, moisture, Defatted Dry Extract (DDE), and total acidity for comparison with Brazilian legislation. The levels of chlorides, protein, ash, total dry extract, water activity, color and determination of the lipid profile were also determined. In all analyses, there was a statistically significant difference between the samples. Some samples showed disagreement with the quality requirements recommended in Brazilian legislation for commercialization. Indeed, 10 samples did not present the minimum fat content required, varying from 68.53% to 77.31% in butters with salt and from 71.64% to 81.72% in those without salt. Eight samples presented humidity levels above the legal recommendations, varying from 17.05% to 20.28%. All products were in agreement with acidity levels. The predominant fatty acids in all samples were myristic acid (C14: 0), palmitic acid (C16: 0), stearic acid (C18: 0) and oleic acid (C18: 1n9). The regional influence, breed and handling of the animals and season of the year in which the milk was obtained for butter production, were suggested to be the main reason for the physical-chemical difference found between the samples.

A review of food safety in low‐moisture foods with current and potential dry‐cleaning methods

“…Similarly, there are products with low moisture content and high water activity. For example, salted butter with 17% moisture content has a w of 0.95–0.98, whereas strawberry jelly with 34.4% moisture content has a water activity of 0.84–0.88 (da Silva et al., 2021; El‐Hajjaji et al., 2020; Schmidt & Fontana Jr., 2007; Uribe‐Wandurraga et al., 2021).…”