Butter making from caprine creams: effect of washing treatment on phospholipids and milk fat globule membrane proteins distribution.

A washing treatment was applied to caprine cream before churning in order to improve phospholipids and MFGM protein purification from buttermilk and butter serum. Cream obtained from a first separation was diluted with water and separated a second time using pilot plant equipment. Regular and washed creams were churned to produce buttermilk and butter, from which butter serum was extracted. The washing treatment allowed a significant decrease of the casein content. As a result, the phospholipids-to-protein ratios in washed buttermilk and butter serum were markedly increased by 2.1 and 1.7-folds respectively, which represents an advantage for the production of phospholipids concentrates. However, when compared with bovine cream, lower phospholipids-to-protein ratios were observed when the washing treatment was applied to caprine cream. A higher concentration of MFGM protein and a lower retention of phospholipids during washing treatment are responsible for the lower phospholipids-to-protein ratios in buttermilk and butter serum obtained from caprine cream. The phospholipids distribution in the butter making process was similar to the one obtained from bovine regular and washed cream. Phospholipids were preferentially concentrated in the butter serum rather than the buttermilk fraction. This simple approach permitted the production of caprine and bovine butter sera extracts containing up to 180 and 240 g phospholipids/kg sera, respectively, on a dry basis.