Chemometric studies of the effects of milk fat replacement with different proportions of vegetable oils in the formulation of fat-filled milk powders: Implications for quality assurance

Abstract

Bovine milk lipids can be replaced with cheaper indigenous vegetable oils to produce milk alternatives with healthier saturated/unsaturated fat balance for those in areas where milk supply is poor or even absent. A wide range of vegetable oils can be used, but their impacts when blended with skimmed milk powder to formulate filled milk powder (FMP) are still unknown. We investigate the baseline variances in 12 types of FMP produced onsite with 3 proportions (10%, 20% and 30%) of 4 different vegetable oils (i.e., coconut, palm, soya-bean and sunflower) using fatty acid- and near infrared spectra profiles. Chemometric analyses revealed 8 significant overlapping clusters of FMP types but 100% classification efficiency was achieved. Sunflower oil, and particularly soya-bean FMP types had statistically the lowest indices of atherogenicity and thrombogenicity. This appears to be the first chemometrics study of FMP; the spectral analytical models used may be effective for product monitoring.