Abstract
The main purpose is to present alternatives for calculating the shelf life of dulce de leche, also known as manjar de leche in Ecuador. Some aspects related to food stability and the general characteristics of dulce de leche are reviewed, with emphasis on the lactose crystallization process. Samples of dulce de leche prepared in the laboratory were used to determine by microscopy the growth of sugar crystals when the product is kept in storage, an indicator used for the calculations when it was found that the size increase follows an order zero kinetic. In the case of storage at a constant temperature, the Arrhenius model makes it possible to calculate the shelf life, and an example of the calculation is developed. In the case of temperature variations, two cases are analyzed: regular and irregular fluctuations. In the first case, the final temperature that the product must have in order to reach a desired shelf life is calculated. In the second one, when the fluctuations are irregular, which is the closest to reality, the shelf life is calculated using a graphical method. Comments on the importance of the calculation method and the complexity of shelf life are included at the end.
Published Version
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