The Effect of Fat Content and Fatty Acids Composition on Color and Textural Properties of Butter
Sergiu Pădureţ
Abstract
The textural properties of butter are influenced by its fat content and implicitly by the fatty acids composition. The impact of butter’s chemical composition variation was studied in accordance with texture and color properties. From 37 fatty acids examined, only 18 were quantified in the analyzed butter fat samples, and approximately 69.120% were saturated, 25.482% were monounsaturated, and 5.301% were polyunsaturated. The butter samples’ viscosity ranged between 0.24 and 2.12 N, while the adhesiveness ranged between 0.286 to 18.19 N·mm. The principal component analysis (PCA) separated the butter samples based on texture parameters, fatty acids concentration, and fat content, which were in contrast with water content. Of the measured color parameters, the yellowness b* color parameter is a relevant indicator that differentiated the analyzed sample into seven statistical groups; the ANOVA statistics highlighted this difference at a level of p < 0.001.