Dairy Ingredients for Food Processing

388 Chapter 16

of nutrients in the American diet. The data in

the table show that in 2005, milk and dairy

products (other than butter) contributed just

7.6% of the total calories provided by all

foods consumed. Concomitantly, milk and

milk foods furnished 70.3% of the calcium,

30.1% of the phosphorus, 25% of the ribofl a-

vin, 15.7% of the vitamin A, 18.2% of the

vitamin B 12 , 18.1% of the protein, and 13.9%

of the magnesium in the American diet. It is

interesting to note that dairy products (other

than butter) contribute relatively low levels

of fat compared to the overall fat in the

American diet. As the table shows, dairy

products contributed just 8.3% of fat to the

American diet. This may be ascribed to the

fact that the dairy industry has responded to

consumer demand by offering reduced fat,

low - fat and nonfat dairy foods.

Nutrient Profi le of Dairy Ingredients

Dairy ingredients furnish healthy constitu-

ents to food, including proteins, fat, lactose,

and minerals. Milk proteins have a high

nutritional value because of their high essen-

tial amino acid content. Thus, they comple-

ment and balance the relatively lower quality

amino acid composition of many vegetable

proteins in the human diet. They act indepen-

dently and synergistically with each other.

Apart from proteins, dairy ingredients con-

tribute desirable minerals and vitamins to

foods. The role of major and minor constitu-

ents in human nutrition is intertwined with

newly discovered physiological benefi ts.

larger surface area of the colloidal and emul-
sion state of proteins and lipids facilitates
their digestion and absorption.

Role of Milk Constituents in the

American Diet

Milk is comprised of unique nutrients that
provide complete nutrition for the newborn
(Figure 16.1 ). Most nutrition experts recog-
nize milk and milk products as important
constituents of a well - balanced and nutrition-
ally adequate diet for children, adolescents,
adults, and the elderly. In this regard, milk
products complement and supplement nutri-
ents available from grains, legumes, vegeta-
bles, fruits, meat, seafood, and poultry.
Milk and dairy products are considered to
be nutrient - dense foods because they supply
a high level of nutrients relative to their low
caloric value. As shown in Table 16.3 , dairy
products contribute a signifi cant proportion

Table 16.1. Composition of milk commonly used for consumption in various regions of the world.

Animal % Water % Protein % Fat % Lactose % Ash

Cow 87.3 3.4 3.7 4.8 0.7

Buffalo 82.7 3.6 7.4 5.5 0.8

Goat 87.7 2.9 4.9 4.1 0.8

Sheep 80.7 4.5 7.4 4.8 1.0

Horse 88.8 2.5 1.9 6.2 0.5

Camel 86.5 3.1 4.0 5.6 0.8

Adapted from Aneja et al. (2002) , Fox (2003).
Source: Chandan and Kilara (2008)

Table 16.2. Physical state and particle size dis-
tribution in milk facilitating nutritional and
physiological effects.

Physical state Type of

particles

Size, diameter

(nm)

Emulsion Fat globules 2,000 – 6,000

Colloidal

dispersion

Casein - calcium

phosphate

Whey proteins

50 – 300

4 – 6

True solution Lactose, salts,

and other

substances

0.5

Chandan and Kilara (2008)