Effects of Heat Treatment on Lactone Content of Butter and Margarine

Abstract

IntroductionButter flavor can be attributed to a mixture of many volatile compounds. More than 230 volatile compounds have been identified as natural constituents of milk fat 1 . Among them, lactones are important compounds that impart flavor to butter and other dairy products. Therefore, these are used as flavor additives for the production of margarines to enhance their butter flavor. To date, many researchers have studied the lactone composition of milk fat. For instance, δ-decalactone as a coconut-like flavor of milk fat was identified by Keeny et al. 2 , and δ-decalactone and δ-dodecalactone were detected from the steam distillate of butter by Tharp et al. 3 . Boldingh et al. detected δ -o c t a l a c t o n e , δ -d e c a l a c t o n e , δ -d o d e c a l a c t o n e , δ-tetradecalactone, and smaller amounts of γ-lactones in milk fat as desirable contributors to the flavor of butter 4 .Siek et al. compared the aroma thresholds of the individual lactones, and reported the thresholds for δ-octalactone, δ-decalactone, δ-dodecalactone, and δ-tetradecalactone as 3.0, 1.4, 95.0, and 500 ppm in oil, respectively; the thresholds in water were 5 to 950 times lower than those in oil 5 . Although short chain lactones indicate lower thresholds Abstract: The lactone content of butter, fermented butter, and margarine was compared using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The main lactones in butters and fermented butters consisted of δdecalactone, δ-dodecalactone, δ-tetradecalactone, δ-hexadecalactone, and γ-dodecalactone. In contrast, the main lactones in margarines were δ-decalactone and δ-dodecalactone. The total lactone content in butters and fermented butters increased by approximately two-fold upon heat treatment, whereas, heat treatment did not affect the lactone content in margarine. The changes in lactone content caused by heat treatment were greater in fermented butters than in butters. These findings suggested that the fermentation process could increase lactone or lactone precursor content in butter.

Biotechnological formation of dairy flavor inducing δ-lactones from vegetable oil

“…The majority of the strains that were identified from culture collection containing enzymes potentially involved in biosynthesis of lactones belonged to the group of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). This does not come as a surprise since LAB are typically known for being able to carry out hydroxylation of fatty acids – an important step in lactone biosynthesis ( Yoshinaga et al, 2019 ). A 20 % (v/v) of a grapeseed oil was added to the fermentation medium.…”

The impact of pasture and non-pasture diets on the sensory and volatile properties of whole milk powder

“…The significant difference in the abundance and presence of lactones in the WMP derived from these diets is especially interesting due to their potential positive sensory impact (the abundance of 8 of the 9 lactones identified varied with diet). Lactones are cyclic compounds, formed through metabolism and/ or thermal degradation of δ- and γ-hydroxyacids and are known to contribute to sweet, creamy and fatty flavours in milk powders (Yoshinaga et al ., 2019; Ianni et al ., 2020). The recovery of lactones was mostly achieved using the DI-HiSorb extraction method, which is a sorptive extraction technique particularly useful for extracting lactones in contrast to other extraction methods (High et al ., 2019; Cheng et al ., 2021).…”

“…Thermal processing conditions can also alter the volatile profile of milk products. For example, increases of aldehydes and methyl ketones derived from lipid oxidation (decarboxylation or light induced oxidation) of β-keto acids after heat treatment (Vazquez-landaverde et al ., 2006; Hougaard et al ., 2011), sulphur compounds formed by oxidation of methanethiol (Contarini et al ., 1997), esters from heat-catalysed esterification reactions (Faulkner et al ., 2018), increases in γ-lactones derived from hydroxy fatty acids after heat processing (Yoshinaga et al ., 2019), increases in ketones formed by β-oxidation of saturated fatty acids (Li et al ., 2012), Maillard reaction products such as benzaldehyde, furans, maltol, acetaldehyde, 3-methylbutanal, 2-methylbutanal, 2-methylpropanal and possibly acetophenone (Calvo and de la Hoz, 1992) and the degradation of β-carotene resulting in the formation of toluene and xylenes (Zepka et al ., 2014). Several ketones, aldehydes and sulphur compounds have been reported to increase during ultra-high temperature treatment and sterilisation of milk (Soukoulis et al ., 2007; Al-Attabi et al ., 2009; Zabbia et al ., 2012).…”

CYP505E3: A Novel Self‐Sufficient ω‐7 In‐Chain Hydroxylase

“…δ‐Dodecalactone is a high‐value flavour compound that is responsible for fruity and buttery notes and also shows anti‐fungal properties . It occurs naturally in fruits and dairy products in low concentrations …”

“…[12] It occurs naturally in fruits and dairy products in low concentrations. [13,14] Scheme 1. Regioselective in-chain hydroxylation of alkanes, fatty alcohols, and fatty acids by CYP505E3.…”