Dairy Ingredients for Food Processing

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Chapter 16

Nutritive and Health Attributes

of Dairy Ingredients

Ramesh C. Chandan

Introduction

Milk and milk products are considered to be
functional foods, defi ned as foods containing
signifi cant levels of biologically active com-
ponents that impart health benefi ts beyond
basic nutrition. They are also referred to as
wellness foods, healthful foods, or nutraceu-
ticals. Functional foods play a signifi cant role
in the prevention of diseases such as cancer,
coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis,
stroke, diabetes, and liver ailments.
Various foods are provided with vital
nutrients and health - related components
when dairy ingredients are incorporated into
them. This chapter provides basic informa-
tion on the contribution of nutrients and
health - enhancing attributes of commercially
important dairy ingredients.

Milk and Milk Products as

Functional Foods

Milk has been described as nature ’ s nearly
perfect food. It provides vital nutrients
including proteins, essential fatty acids, min-
erals, and lactose in balanced proportions.

Defi nition of Milk

For commercial use in the United States,
milk is defi ned as the whole, clean, lacteal

secretion of one or more healthy cows prop-

erly fed and kept, excluding the milk obtained

within 15 days before calving and three to

fi ve days afterward. Clearly, this excludes

colostrum, the milk secreted immediately

after the birth of a calf. It is interesting to

acknowledge that colostrum is now an estab-

lished functional food that contains high

levels of antibodies to protect newborn

calves.

Chemical Composition of Milk

From a chemical standpoint, milk is a

complex fl uid containing at least 100,000

separate molecules and chemical entities. In

the dairy and food industry, the composition

of milk and dairy ingredients is generally

described in terms of its commercially sig-

nifi cant constituents, namely, milk fat and

nonfat solids (NFS) or milk - solids - not - fat

(MSNF). The MSNF comprises of protein,

lactose and minerals.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) standards of identity,

milk “ contains not less than 8.25% MSNF

and not less than 3.25% milk fat. ” The major

constituents of milk of mammals important

in human nutrition are given in Table 16.1.

In terms of physical structure, milk is an

opaque, white, heterogeneous fl uid in which

various constituents are held in multi -

dispersed phases of emulsion, colloidal sus-

pension, or solution (Table 16.2 ). The phase

of the milk constituents infl uences their nutri-

tional and physiological characteristics. The

Dairy Ingredients for Food Processing edited by
Ramesh C. Chandan and Arun Kilara
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.