Microbiological, physicochemical, textural characteristics and oxidative stability of butter produced from high-pressure homogenisation treated cream at different pressures

Microbiological, physicochemical, and textural characteristics, and oxidative stability was investigated of butter produced from raw cream treated with high-pressure homogenisation (HPH) at 0 (control), 10, 20, 30, 50, or 70 MPa. HPH treatment of cream increased lightness and decreased yellowness of butter. Firmness of all butter samples was between 97 (control) and 380 N (70 MPa). HPH decreased the spreadability of butter dependent on increasing pressure. A monomodal fat particle size distribution was determined in all butter samples; D[3.2] ranged from 25.25 to 125.5 μm and HPH decreased average particle size compared with the control. The induction time of butter ranged from 27.40 (control) to 39.61 h (70 MPa). Above 50 MPa, Salmonella, and yeast and moulds were completely inactivated whilst coliforms and staphylococci were not detected in butter from HPH treated cream at 70 MPa, indicating that HPH can improve the microbial quality of butter produced from raw cream.