Novel milk fat fractions for health and functionality obtained by short-path distillation

Abstract

Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) are associated with various health benefits, such as enhanced insulin sensitivity and reduced appetite. The study explored the potential of combining dry or solvent fractionation with short-path distillation (SPD) to obtain milk fat (MF) fractions enriched in MCFA. By using only SPD, a 2-fold increase in MCFA and an 18-fold increase in α-tocopherol in distillates was obtained compared to native MF. The distillate has a lower melting temperature than does MF. Pre-fractionation processes before SPD did not lead to an additional increase in MCFA. The study demonstrates the potential of SPD to produce MF fraction (distillate) with significant enrichment in MCFA, differed thermal behavior, and increased α-tocopherol content while keeping the FA composition and thermal properties of the remaining fraction (retentate) similar to MF as only 10% of the milk fat have been removed.