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Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

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Food Hydrocolloids
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodhyd

Effect of microuidization of heat-treated milk on rheology


and sensory properties of reduced fat yoghurt
Chr. Ian E. Ciron a, b, Vivian L. Gee a, Alan L. Kelly b, Mark A.E. Auty a, *
a
b

Food Chemistry and Technology Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Ireland

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 19 November 2010
Accepted 17 February 2011

The effects of microuidization at 150 MPa (MFz) and conventional homogenization at 20/5 MPa (CH) of
heat-treated milk on the rheology and sensory properties of non- (0.1%) and low- (1.5%) fat stirred
yoghurts were compared. Homogenization conditions clearly affected the sensory properties of reducedfat yoghurts, but the effect was highly dependent on fat content. MFz of heat-treated milk yielded
products with very different sensory proles from the conventional yoghurts. For non-fat yoghurts, MFz
of heat-treated milk enhanced the perception of buttermilk and soft cheese avours, and natural yoghurt
aroma and avour, but also increased the intensity of undesirable mouthfeel characteristics such as
chalkiness, mouth-dryness and astringency. For low-fat yoghurts, MFz signicantly improved creaminess
and desirable texture characteristics such as smoothness, cohesiveness, thickness, and oral and spoon
viscosity. These differences in sensory proles, especially textural properties, were partially related to
rheological properties, particularly ow behaviour. MFz of heat-treated milk resulted in non- and low-fat
yoghurts with higher yield stress, more pronounced hysteresis effect and higher viscosity than those of
CH yoghurts of similar fat contents. These ndings suggest that microuidization may have applications
for production of high-quality yoghurt with reduced-fat content.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Reduced-fat yoghurt
Homogenization
Microuidization
Rheology
Sensory analysis
Principal component analysis

1. Introduction
In the dairy industry, consistent production of yoghurt with
desirable texture is achieved by heat treatment and homogenization of the milk base, increasing the milk solids/protein content,
and use of commercial starter cultures. The addition of stabilizers,
such as gelatine, modied starches and polysaccharides is also
a common practice in the manufacture of yoghurt. Milk-derived
ingredients (Janhoj, Petersen, Frost, & Ipsen, 2006; Johansen,
Laugesen, Janhoj, Ipsen, & Frost, 2008) and exopolysaccharideproducing bacterial cultures (Folkenberg, Dejmek, Skriver,
Guldager, & Ipsen, 2006) have been investigated to assess their
potential for manufacture of reduced-fat yoghurts (i.e., at least 25%
less fat than the full-fat counterpart) with desirable texture properties. Milk proteins have been modied to serve as protein-based
fat replacers by mimicking the functionality of fat in structure
formation and imparting attractive sensory properties to yoghurt
(Seydim, Sarikus, & Okur, 2005). Recent studies have examined
a range of new technologies, including high-pressure processing

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 353 25 42442; fax: 353 25 42340.


E-mail address: mark.auty@teagasc.ie (M.A.E. Auty).
0268-005X/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.foodhyd.2011.02.012

(Penna, Gurram, & Barbosa-Canovas, 2006), thermosonication


(Riener, Noci, Cronin, Morgan, & Lyng, 2009), high-pressure
homogenization (Lanciotti, Vannini, Pittia, & Guerzoni, 2004; Serra,
Trujillo, Quevedo, Guamis, & Ferragut, 2007) and microuidization
(Ciron, Gee, Kelly, & Auty, 2010), to determine their potential as
alternative processes for producing good quality reduced-fat
yoghurts.
Few studies have investigated the potential of microuidization
to improve the texture and stability of yoghurt. Partial replacement
of milk solids with microuidized starch was shown to enhance
viscosity and reduce syneresis in yoghurt (Augustin, Sanguansri, &
Htoon, 2008). Cobos, Horne, and Muir (1995) studied the impact of
using microuidization as a homogenization technique on the
rheological properties of acid gels. Recently, microuidization was
utilized for production of stirred yoghurts and shown to affect the
texture, water retention and physical properties of the resultant
yoghurt. High-pressure homogenization using a Microuidizer
reduced the particle size in heat-treated non- and low-fat milk
samples to sizes smaller than those normally occurring in milk
processed in a conventional valve homogenizer, and resulted in
yoghurts with different gel particle size and microstructure (Ciron
et al., 2010). Such differences in particle size and structure would
be expected to inuence rheological behaviour, which could in turn

Chr.I.E. Ciron et al. / Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

impart changes in sensory properties. Thus, the effects of highpressure microuidization and conventional homogenization of
heat-treated milk on sensory and rheological properties of nonand low-fat yoghurts were compared in the present study. This
work also provides insights into the relationship between sensory
perception of texture and rheological properties of yoghurt made
with microuidized milk, which has not been reported to date.

s s0 k  g_ n

1471

(1)

2.4. Sensory analysis

Medium-heat skim milk powder (36.16% protein, 51.98%


carbohydrates, 0.77% fat, 7.93% ash, 3.16% moisture) was obtained
from Kerry Food Ingredients (Listowel, Co. Kerry, Ireland), and
extra-white anhydrous milk fat (99.9%, w/w, fat) was supplied by
Corman, S. A. (Go, Belgium). Granulated white sugar (99.91%, w/w,
sucrose) purchased from the local supermarket was used to
enhance the avour of yoghurt. Yoghurt culture (FD-DVS YFC-471
Yo-Flex) consisting of a mixed strain of Streptococcus thermophilus
and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus was provided as a gift
by Chr. Hansen, Cork, Ireland.

Descriptive sensory analysis was conducted to identify and


quantify the perceived attributes in stirred yoghurts. The sensory
proles of the yoghurts were determined by a trained sensory
panel comprised of eight assessors, who were selected based on
previous experience in evaluating products, taste sensitivity, and
ability to detect sensory differences. A sensory vocabulary of 32
attributes describing the appearance, aroma, avour and texture of
stirred yoghurt was developed by panel consensus using reference
samples. Creaminess was evaluated by the assessors using their
own denition. The trained panel evaluated the samples in triplicate over three sessions in separate booths in a sensory room. The
samples were rated for each attribute on a 10-mm line scale
(0 none to 10 very high) anchored by appropriate reference
standards for each sensory attribute. The samples (w100 g) were
kept under refrigeration (w5  C) for an hour prior to serving, and
presented to the assessors in random and balanced order in white
plastic cups coded with three-digit random numbers. Sparkling
water was provided for cleansing the palate in between samples.

2.2. Production of yoghurt samples

2.5. Data analysis

Non- and low-fat yoghurts (0.1, 1.5% fat) were produced from
recombined milk samples according to the procedure described by
Ciron et al. (2010). Briey, the milk samples were heated (95  C,
2 min), then either homogenized using a two stage (20/5 MPa)
conventional homogenizer or microuidized at 150 MPa. Cooled
stirred yoghurts (20  C) were apportioned into sterile propylene
conical pots with snap-on caps (Plastiques Gosselin, France); 125 g
into 200-mL pots for rheological measurements and w800 g into
1-L pots for sensory evaluation. All sample treatments were
produced in duplicate, stored in a walk-in chiller (w5  C), and
analyzed after 7  1 days of production.

The rheological and sensory data were subjected to analysis of


variance (ANOVA) using the general linear model (GLM) to determine signicant treatment and interaction effects at a 5% level of
signicance. The results were reported as mean values for each
parameter, and Tukeys test was performed for multiple comparisons of the treatments. Principal component analysis (PCA) was
also performed separately on rheological and sensory data, and PCA
plots were generated. Minitab 15 (Minitab Ltd., U.K.) software was
used for all statistical analyses.

2.3. Rheological analysis

3.1. Effect of microuidization of heat-treated milk on rheological


behaviour of reduced-fat yoghurts

2. Materials and methods


2.1. Materials

The rheological properties of stirred yoghurts were characterized in duplicate at 5  C using an AR 2000ex rheometer (TA
Instruments UK Ltd., U.K.), tted with a standard-sized DIN
geometry (conical concentric cylinders with 15 mm inner stator
radius, 14 mm outer rotor radius, 42 mm cylinder immersed height,
and 5920 mm gap). Prior to the measurements of viscoelastic
properties or ow behaviour, approximately 17 g of yoghurt sample
was allowed to rebody in the rheometer cup for 30 min at 5  C
while the inner concentric cylinder was immersed.
Low-amplitude oscillatory measurements were made as follows
to determine the viscoelastic properties: frequency sweeps
(0.1e100 rad s1, in log progression with 10 points per decade)
were performed at constant strain of 0.5%, which was within the
linear viscoelastic region as determined in preliminary experiments; after this strain sweeps (0.1e100%) were performed at
a xed angular frequency (1 rad s1).
Flow behaviours was determined on a new set of samples of
yoghurt by shear-rate sweeps (0.1e100 s1, in log progression) at an
increasing shear rate (upward ow), followed by a decreasing shear
rate (downward ow) at constant angular frequency (1 rad s1) and
strain (0.5%) for 10 min. The ow curves were tted with a HerscheleBulkley model using a Rheology Advantage Data Analysis
software (TA Instruments UK Ltd., U.K.). The yield stress (s0),
consistency coefcient (k) and ow behaviour rate index (n) were
calculated using the HerscheleBulkley model:

3. Results and discussion

3.1.1. Viscoelastic properties


All reduced-fat yoghurts in the study exhibited viscoelastic
behaviour, characterized by frequency and strain dependency,
irrespective of fat content and homogenization condition applied to
the heat-treated milk. Microuidization at 150 MPa (MFz) and
conventional homogenization at 20/5 MPa (CH) had similar effects
on the viscoelastic properties of non- and low-fat stirred yoghurts.
The yoghurts produced from microuidized milk and conventionally homogenized milk had almost identical values of elastic
modulus (G0 ) and viscous modulus (G00 ) for both non- and low-fat
samples, as shown in frequency- (Fig. 1A) and strain-sweep curves
(Fig. 2), and Table 1 (p > 0.05). Their phase angle (d) values were
also comparable (p > 0.05, Table 1) from very low to high
frequencies (Fig. 1B). The strain-sweep proles (Fig. 2) demonstrated similar linear viscoelastic (LVE) ranges and G0 eG00 cross-over
points (G0 G00 ), indicating the strain sensitivity and transition
point from elastic to viscous behaviour were not affected by
homogenization condition.
Despite the non-signicance of the effect of homogenization
condition on the viscoelastic properties, MFz of heat-treated milk
resulted in non-fat yoghurt (0% MFz) with marginally lower G0 and
G00 values than those of yoghurt produced from milk homogenized
using the conventional method (0% CH). This is shown in both
frequency- (Fig. 1A) and strain- (Fig. 2A) sweep curves. 0% MFz had

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Chr.I.E. Ciron et al. / Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

A 1000

Table 1
Rheological behaviour properties of reduced-fat stirred yoghurts as affected by fat
content (0.1%, 1.5% fat) and homogenization conditiona (CH, MFz).b
Parameters

Non-fat (0.1%)

G'/G" (Pa)

CH

100

0.1

10

100

-1

Angular frequency (rad s )

20

MFz

68.46 a
16.80 a
13.80 a

125.45 b
31.04 b
13.92 a

121.85 b
28.32 b
13.09 a

Strain sweepsd
LVE-s (Pa)
LVE-g (%)
sy (Pa)
gy (%)

13.38 a
0.5190 a
4.94 a
53.66 a

13.59 a
0.6373 ab
10.17 b
45.06 a

13.00 a
0.8022 b
11.52 b
37.15 a

3.778 b
10.673 b
0.2428 b
0.4724 b
1800 b

4.728 b
13.308 b
0.2446 b
0.5303 b
2474 c

13.932 d
25.795 c
0.2061 a
0.8405 c
3888 d

14.00 a
0.6398 ab
6.14 a
42.30 a

a
Homogenization condition: CH conventional valve homogenization (20/
5 MPa); MFz microuidization (150 MPa).
b
Mean values (n 2) that have different letters across each row signicantly
differ (p  0.05) using GLM-ANOVA and Tukeys test.
c
Frequency sweep parameters were reported at 1 rad s1.
d
Strain-sweep parameters: stress (LVE-s) and strain (LVE-g) at the limit of LVE,
and yield stress (sy;) and yield strain (gy) at cross-over of G0 and G00 .
e
Shear-rate sweep parameters: h50 apparent viscosity at 50 s1; HL hysteresis loop area; and HerscheleBulkley model parameters, where so yield stress,
k consistency coefcient, and n rate index.

15

(
()

CH

Frequency sweepsc
G0 (Pa)
77.97 a
19.38 a
G00 (Pa)
d ( )
13.96 a

Shear-rate sweepse
so (Pa)
1.244 a
5.597 a
k (Pa sn)
n
0.3224 c
h50 (Pa s)
0.3702 a
1018 a
HL area
(Pa s1)

10

Low-fat (1.5%)
MFz

10

0
0.1

10

100

-1

Angular frequency (rad s )

Fig. 1. Frequency curves of non-fat (0%) and low-fat (1.5%) stirred yoghurts made with
conventionally homogenized (CH) or microuidized (MFz) milk. A) Elastic modulus, G0
(solid symbols) and viscous modulus, G00 (hollow symbols), and B) phase angle,
d (mathematical symbols) as a function of frequency: 0% CH (6, :, d); 0% MFz
(,, -, ); 1.5% CH (B, C, ); 1.5% MFz (>, A, ).

also slightly lower values of yield stress (sy), and stress (LVE-s) and
strain (LVE-g) at the limit of LVE compared with 0% CH (Table 1),
further indicating a slightly weaker structure. These results were in
agreement with the observations on back-extrusion tests using
a texture analyzer in our previous study (Ciron et al., 2010). In fact,
MFz of heat-treated milk had detrimental effects on texture and

water retention of non-fat stirred yoghurts. The slightly weaker


structure of 0% MFz compared to conventional yoghurt could be
attributed to the differences in microstructures, as discussed in our
previous report (Ciron et al., 2010). The more heterogeneous
microstructure of 0% MFz compared to 0% CH, consisting of large
protein aggregates with less interconnections between each other,
was suggested to be responsible for the low rmness.
Figs. 1 and 2B show the effect of homogenization condition on
viscoelastic properties of low-fat yoghurts. Similar G0 and G00 values
in relation to frequency (Fig. 1A) and strain (Fig. 2B) was found for
low-fat yoghurts from microuidized milk (1.5% MFz) and
conventionally homogenized milk (1.5% CH). This indicates that
homogenization condition had no denite effect on rmness of
low-fat yoghurt, although MFz yielded smaller fat globules than CH
(Ciron et al., 2010) and increased the amount of interacting particles, comprised of milk proteins and fat (Sharma & Dalgleish, 1993).

100

100

G'/G" (Pa)

B 1000

G'/G" (Pa)

A 1000

10

10

0. 1

10

Strain (%)

1 00

0 .1

10

100

Strain (%)

Fig. 2. Elastic modulus, G0 (solid symbols) and viscous modulus, G00 (hollow symbols) as a function of strain for A) non-fat (0%) and B) low-fat (1.5%) stirred yoghurts made with
conventionally homogenized (CH) or microuidized (MFz) milk: 0% CH (6, :); 0% MFz (,, -); 1.5% CH (B, C); 1.5% MFz (>, A).

Chr.I.E. Ciron et al. / Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

This result is supported by earlier ndings on the effect of MFz on


texture properties as ascertained by back-extrusion test (Ciron
et al., 2010) and corroborates with that of Cobos et al. (1995),
demonstrating similar effects of microuidization and conventional homogenization on viscoelastic properties of acid milk gels.
To fully understand the mechanism behind the ndings, further
studies are required.
3.1.2. Flow behaviour
The ow behaviour was also determined since viscosity is an
important quality parameter that inuences the sensory properties
of yoghurt. Rheometric viscosity has been reported to have a strong
positive correlation with thickness (Skriver, Holstborg, & Qvist,
1999). The experimental yoghurts were highly thixotropic, and
behaved as pseudoplastic materials (Delorenzi, Pricl, & Torriano,
1995) with a yield point and hysteresis loop (Fig. 3).
Homogenization condition clearly affected the ow behaviours
of non- and low-fat yoghurts. A noticeable increase in viscosity was
observed for non-fat yoghurt when microuidized milk was used
for production, as illustrated by higher consistency coefcient (k),
lower ow rate index (n), and higher apparent viscosity at 50 s1
(h50) for 0% MFz than for 0% CH (Table 1 and Fig. 3). Moreover, 0%
MFz had signicantly higher yield stress (s0) and hysteresis loop
area (HL) than 0% CH (p < 0.05, Table 1).
More pronounced changes in ow behaviours were observed in
low-fat yoghurt, compared to non-fat yoghurt; the ow prole of
1.5% MFz was very different from that of 1.5% CH, showing higher
shear stress and greater apparent viscosity as the shear rate
increased (Fig. 3). Higher yield stress and a larger hysteresis loop in
1.5% MFz than in 1.5% CH were evident in the ow curves (Fig. 3),
1.5% MFz exhibited a very prominent yielding point as well. The
higher yield stress (p  0.05) of 1.5% MFz as compared to 1.5% CH
(Fig. 3 and Table 1) implies that a greater shear stress was required
for ow to commence and thus it is more resistant to shearing. This
indicates that MFz of low-fat milk produced a yoghurt with a more
consolidated network compared to the standard process, probably
due to more interactions as consequences of greater size reduction
of fat globules (Ciron et al., 2010) and casein micelles (Pouliot,
Britten, & Latreille, 1990). The more pronounced hysteresis effect
(p  0.05) of MFz of heat-treated milk compared to CH in low-fat
yoghurt, as shown by a larger hysteresis loop (Fig. 3 and Table 1),
indicates that 1.5% MFz has less ability than 1.5% CH to fully recover
its structure after shear-induced breakdown. The HerscheleBulkley
model tted very well to the upward ow curves (0.990  r  0.999)
because the shear-thinning ow behaviour of the low-fat yoghurts

60

Shear stress (Pa)

50
40

30
20

10
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

-1

Shear rate (s )
Fig. 3. Flow behaviour proles of non-fat (0%) and low-fat (1.5%) stirred yoghurts
made with conventionally homogenized (CH) or microuidized (MFz) milk: 0% CH
(:); 0% MFz (,); 1.5% CH (C); 1.5% MFz ().

1473

had an inherent yield point. The ow model parameters of the


HerscheleBulkley function are presented in Table 1, and signicantly (p  0.05) higher values of s0, k and h50, and lower values of n
were obtained for 1.5% MFz in comparison with 1.5% CH. This indicates higher viscosity, higher yield stress and more shear-thinning
behaviour of low-fat yoghurt produced from milk homogenized by
MFz rather than that made using conventional method.
The positive effects of MFz on ow behaviour of low-fat
yoghurts in the present study are in contrast with our earlier
ndings on the viscosity of low-fat yoghurt measured using backextrusion, wherein the two homogenization conditions resulted in
yoghurts with similar viscosity index and consistency (Ciron et al.,
2010). A possible explanation for the inconsistency would be
related to the differences in principles and mechanisms of the two
methodologies for assessing the viscosity of yoghurt. Back-extrusion tests use pseudo-compression (compression and extrusion)
while rheometric viscosity is based on shearing of the sample. The
viscosity index and consistency determined by the back-extrusion
test would be more related to gel rmness (G0 ) and sensory rmness of the yoghurt, while the rheometric viscosity would be a good
indicator of sensory viscosity.
The increase in viscosity of low-fat yoghurt through MFz of
heat-treated milk could be attributed to modication in microstructure and particle size (and composition) of gel dispersions. A
recent confocal microscopy study on low-fat yoghurts demonstrated that MFz created fat globules with a more active role in
structure formation; microuidized fat globules were greatly
reduced in size, and incorporated and intimately bound to the
proteins in a more highly consolidated gel network, while
conventionally homogenized fat globules appeared to be more
loosely entrapped within the protein networks (Ciron et al., 2010).
This increased incorporation of smaller fat globules into the protein
gel networks could explain the enhancement in viscosity of low-fat
yoghurts by microuidization.
3.2. Effect of microuidization of heat-treated milk on sensory
properties of reduced-fat yoghurts
Descriptive sensory analysis was performed by a trained panel
to determine the sensory proles of reduced-fat yoghurts based on
established descriptors. The list of descriptors consisted of four
appearance, four aroma, nine avour and 15 mouthfeel attributes,
together with their corresponding denitions (Table 2). The mean
ratings for creaminess and 32 sensory attributes developed by the
trained panel of eight members are presented in Table 3. All sensory
properties were clearly affected by fat content and homogenization
condition. Interactions between fat content and homogenization
condition were signicant (p  0.01) for surface water, smoothness,
cream aroma, natural yoghurt aroma, soft cheese aroma and
avour, buttermilk avour, astringency, and all mouthfeel attributes, except for oral smoothness and fattiness. The rest of the
sensory properties were affected (p  0.01) by homogenization
condition, irrespective of fat content.
A multivariate representation was plotted using PCA to have
a better understanding of the sensory proles of the treatment
samples. PCA of the sensory data (Fig. 4) showed that the rst two
PCs explained 85.7% of the total variation. PC1 (49.4%), which
segregated the yoghurts based on homogenization condition
(Fig. 4B), was positively correlated with natural yoghurt aroma and
avour, sourness, astringency, shininess, oral smoothness, stickiness, cohesiveness, mouth-coating, mouth-drying and chalkiness,
and negatively correlated with bitterness (Fig. 4A). A sensory
differentiation based on fat content (Fig. 4B) was evident along PC2
(36.3%), which was described by soft cheese aroma, buttermilk
aroma and surface water on the positive side, and featheriness,

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Chr.I.E. Ciron et al. / Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

Table 2
Sensory attributes for stirred yoghurts, as dened by the trained panel.
Attributes
Appearance
Shininess
Surface water
Smoothness
Spoon viscosity
Aroma
Cream aroma
Buttermilk aroma
Natural yoghurt
aroma
Soft white
cheese aroma
Taste/avour
Sweetness

Abbreviation

Sensory attributes

Non-fat (0.1%) Low-fat (1.5%) p-Valueb


CH

A-Shiny
Appears bright and glossy
Surface water Amount of water present on the
surface of the sample
A-Smooth
Looks smooth and free of irregularities
A-Viscous
Thickness of the sample ranging from
thick to watery
Ar-Cream
Ar-Buttermilk
Ar-Natural
yoghurt
Ar-Soft cheese

Sweet

Sourness

Sour

Saltiness
Bitterness

Salty
Bitter

Cream avour
Buttermilk avour
Natural yoghurt
avour
Soft cheese avour
Astringency

F-Cream
F-Buttermilk
F-Natural
yoghurt
F-Soft cheese
Astringent

Texture (mouthfeel)
Oral smoothness
M-Smooth
Oral Viscosity
Chalkiness

M-Viscous
M-Chalky

Grittiness

M-Gritty

Featheriness

M-Feathery

Fattiness

M-Fatty

Meltdown rate

M-Meltdown

Firmness
Velvetiness

M-Firm
M-Velvety

Curdiness
Stickiness

M-Curdy
M-Sticky

Thickness

M-Thick

Cohesiveness

M-Cohesive

Mouth-dryness

M-dry

Mouth-coating

M-coat

Creaminess

Denition

Table 3
Descriptive sensory ratings for reduced-fat stirred yoghurts.a

Creamy

Aroma of fresh cream


Aroma of buttermilk
Aroma of natural yoghurt
Aroma of soft white cheese

Taste of sucrose, other sugars and


articial sweeteners
Taste associated with certain acids
such as citric acid
Taste of sodium chloride
Taste associated with quinine
and caffeine
Aromatics/taste of fresh cream
Aromatics/taste of buttermilk
Aromatics/taste of natural yoghurt
Aromatics/taste of soft white cheese
Dry, puckering feeling in the mouth
caused by tannins
Perceived smoothness in the mouth
from smooth to rough
High resistance to ow in the mouth
A chalky, cloying powdery sensation
in the mouth
Amount of sandy particles present in
the sample
A light sensation created by a sample
that contains trapped air, reminiscent
of whipped products
Perceived amount of fat/grease
in the sample
Rate of the created sensation of a
sample melting in the mouth
Solid, compact sensation; holds its shape
A silky, velvety sensation that slides
on the surface of the tongue and the
roof and sides of the mouth
Amount of lumps present in the sample
Degree to which the sample sticks
or adheres to the teeth and palate
Perceived thickness of the sample
in the mouth
Degree of holding together rather
than spreading across the tongue and
surfaces of the mouth
Perception of dryness in the mouth; a
mouth-drying sample is saliva absorbing
Sensation of a coating layer left in the
mouth after swallowing the sample
Overall intensity of the perceived
creaminess based on each assessors
own concept (could include appearance,
avour and texture)

velvetiness, rmness, meltdown rate, thickness, cohesiveness and


creaminess on its negative side (Fig. 4A).
A distinct segregation of the four yoghurt types in terms of their
sensory properties was shown in the PCA plots (Fig. 4A and B). Nonfat yoghurts were positioned on the top half of the sensory space,

MFz

CH

a
b
a
a

7.3
0.8
8.0
6.3

b
b
c
a

5.5
0.8
7.6
6.9

a
b
a
c

0.5
1.1
6.6
0.8

a
b
c
b

Taste/avour
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
F-Cream
F-Buttermilk
F-Natural yoghurt
F-Soft cheese
Astringent

1.4 b
1.7 a
1.0 b
1.1 b
0.6 b
1.4 a
5.0 b
1.0 a
1.3 a

1.1
2.7
0.8
0.8
0.5
1.7
6.7
2.4
2.5

a
b
b
a
a
b
d
b
c

Texture (mouthfeel)
M-Smooth
M-Viscous
M-Chalky
M-Gritty
M-Feathery
M-Fatty
M-Meltdown
M-Firm
M-Velvety
M-Curdy
M-Sticky
M-Thick
M-Cohesive
M-Dry
M-Coat

7.2 a
6.1 a
0.8 a
0.5 a
5.7 b
1.4 ab
5.9 b
5.5 b
5.7 b
1.1 b
4.1 b
4.5 a
2.3 a
1.9 a
1.9 a

8.0 c
6.4 a
3.8 c
0.7 b
3.7 a
1.1 a
4.8 a
5.0 a
5.3 a
1.0 b
5.0 c
4.9 a
4.1 b
3.7 c
3.6 c

7.5 b
7.0 b
0.7 a
0.6 b
6.2 c
1.4 b
5.8 b
6.1 c
6.6 c
1.1 b
3.9 a
5.8 b
2.1 a
1.9 a
1.8 a

Creaminess

5.3 a

5.7 a

6.2 b

Appearance
A-Shiny
Surface water
A-Smooth
A-Viscous

5.4
1.0
6.8
6.3

Aroma
Ar-Cream
Ar-Buttermilk
Ar-Natural yoghurt
Ar-Soft cheese

0.6
1.1
4.4
1.0

HCc

Fat  HC

MFz

Fat

a
b
b
b

7.6
0.3
8.4
7.2

c
a
d
c

0.004 <0.001 NS
<0.001 <0.001 <0.001
<0.001 <0.001 0.007
<0.001 0.003 NS

1.0
1.1
4.2
0.9

c
b
a
bc

0.8
0.9
6.0
0.5

b
a
b
a

<0.001 <0.001 0.036


0.001 0.001 NS
<0.001 <0.001 0.002
<0.001 <0.001 <0.001

1.4
1.7
0.8
1.0
1.1
1.2
4.9
1.0
1.1

a
a
b
b
c
a
a
a
a

1.3
2.7
0.6
0.8
0.8
1.3
6.3
1.1
1.6

b
b
a
a
b
a
c
a
b

NS
NS
0.002
NS
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001

<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001

NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
<0.001
NS
<0.001
<0.001

8.4 d
7.3 c
2.8 b
0.6 b
5.4 b
1.2 ab
6.0 b
6.3 c
6.6 c
0.7 a
5.4 d
6.1 c
5.7 c
3.1 b
3.2 b

<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
NS
<0.001
NS
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
NS
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001

<0.001
0.002
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
0.008
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
NS
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001

NS
0.027
<0.001
0.001
<0.001
NS
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
0.005
<0.001
0.013
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001

7.0 c

<0.001 <0.001 <0.001

Mean ratings (replicates, n 2; assessors, p 8; trials, t 3) with different


letters across rows differ signicantly at p < 0.05 using GLM-ANOVA and Tukeys
test.
b
NS denotes non-signicance at p < 0.05.
c
HC homogenization condition, either conventional homogenization at 20/
5 MPa (CH) or microuidization at 150 MPa (MFz).

and were further segmented as follows with regards to homogenization condition. 0% CH (in the third quadrant) was characterized by
high intensities of bitterness, saltiness, soft cheese aroma, buttermilk aroma and curdiness, and high amount of surface water. 0% MFz
(in the fourth quadrant) was perceived as astringent, chalky and
mouth-drying, but with high soft cheese and buttermilk avours,
natural yoghurt aroma and avour, and mouth-coating. Conversely,
low-fat yoghurts were situated in the lower portion of the plot. 1.5%
CH (in the second quadrant) had the highest score for fattiness, but
the lowest intensities for shininess, chalkiness, mouth-coating,
mouth-drying, sourness, and natural aroma and avour. 1.5% MFz
(on the rst quadrant) had the highest values for smoothness (spoon
and oral), stickiness, cohesiveness, viscosity (spoon and oral),
thickness, rmness, velvetiness, featheriness, meltdown rate, cream
avour and aroma, and creaminess. Hence, reduced-fat stirred
yoghurts with different sensory proles can be produced by
manipulating the fat content and homogenization condition.
Combining the results of GLM-ANOVA (Table 3) and PCA (Fig. 4)
indicated that MFz of heat-treated milk had a marked effect
(p  0.01) on the sensory properties of reduced-fat yoghurts.
Regardless of fat content, MFz enhanced shininess, cream avour,

Chr.I.E. Ciron et al. / Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

Fig. 4. PCA plots of sensory properties of non-fat (0%) and low-fat (1.5%) stirred
yoghurts made with conventionally homogenized (CH) or microuidized (MFz) milk
showing the A) attributes and B) samples: 0% CH ( ); 0% MFz ( ); 1.5% CH ( ); 1.5%
MFz ( ).

natural yoghurt avour and non-oral smoothness, while reducing the


perception of sweetness, saltiness, bitterness and fattiness. It is also
noteworthy that MFz improved the oral smoothness in both types of
yoghurt; the oral smoothness of 0% MFz was even higher than that of
1.5% CH. In agreement with an earlier sensory study on low-fat
yoghurt (Janhoj et al., 2006), fat content increased oral smoothness,
which was further enhanced by MFz of heat-treated milk.
The effect of MFz on most of the sensory properties depended on fat
content, especially for mouthfeel attributes (Table 3, Fig. 4). In non-fat
yoghurt, MFz caused a signicant reduction in meltdown rate, featheriness, rmness and velvetiness, when compared with the control
sample, but in parallel the perception of mouth-coating character
increased. MFz seemed to have the potential to increase the intensities
of soft cheese avour, buttermilk avour, and natural yoghurt aroma
and avour of non-fat yoghurt. For low-fat yoghurt, MFz was favourable in terms of enhancing creaminess and some of the fat-associated
texture attributes, such as non-oral smoothness, viscosity (spoon and
oral) and thickness. MFz was also suitable for developing a more
mouth-coating mouthfeel and a shiny appearance in low-fat yoghurt,
although it reduced the positive effect of the presence of 1.5% fat on
cream aroma, featheriness, rmness and velvetiness compared to CH.
Furthermore, marked improvements in stickiness and cohesiveness
were achieved by using MFz compared with CH, while reducing the
degree of syneresis (surface water) and amount of lumps (curdiness) in
low-fat yoghurts. Hence, there is a synergistic effect of high-pressure
microuidization and fat content on creaminess and associated
texture attributes of yoghurt, which has not been previously reported
and will be the subject of further investigation.

1475

As expected, the presence of fat enhanced desirable texture


properties in reduced-fat yoghurts, including smoothness, viscosity,
featheriness, rmness, velvetiness, thickness and creaminess, while
reducing the amount of surface water. The texture-enhancing
capability of fat in yoghurt (Cobos et al., 1995; Keogh & OKennedy,
1998; Lucey, Munro, & Singh, 1998; Patrignani et al., 2007) is related
to the ability of homogenized fat globules to participate in the gel
network formation (Aguilera & Kessler, 1988; Sodini, Remeuf,
Haddad, & Corrieu, 2004) and consequently strengthen the
yoghurt gel structure (Lucey et al., 1998).
Further improvements in creaminess, smoothness, viscosity and
thickness of low-fat yoghurt achieved by MFz of heat-treated milk
could be explained by increased interactions between fat globules
and milk proteins due to the changes in particle size and microstructure. Reduction of fat globules by MFz to size similar to that of
casein micelles increased the effective surface area for milk
proteins (casein and/or whey proteins) to adsorb on the new fat
globule membrane. Furthermore, the milk proteins became more
reactive due to thermal denaturation of whey proteins (Lucey et al.,
1998) and microuidization-induced disruption of casein micelles
(Dalgleish, Tosh, & West, 1996; Sharma & Dalgleish, 1993). Moreover, fat globules that could actively interact with other particles
were created by microuidization due to the modication of fat
globular membranes, which are constituted of semi-intact casein
micelles or micellar fragments (Dalgleish et al., 1996; Sharma &
Dalgleish, 1993). This allowed the casein-coated fat globules to
interact further with casein micelles, micellar fragments, or caseindenatured whey protein complexes, forming dense three-dimensional networks of milk proteins and fat as shown by confocal
microscopy (Ciron et al., 2010). Increased non-oral and oral
smoothness could also be related to the uniform distribution fat
globules in the network structure of low-fat yoghurt besides their
very small small size (w220 nm) and the lubricating nature of fat.
Although differing sensory proles of reduced-fat yoghurts
could be attributed largely to the changes in size, microstructure
and interactions of proteins and fat globules, some of the texture
attributes could be partially related to ow behaviour. The increase
in intensities of spoon and oral viscosity, and thickness of yoghurts
due to MFz of milk is in agreement with the results of instrumental
viscosity. There were also strong positive correlations for spoon
viscosity (r 0.947; p < 0.001), oral viscosity (r 0.889; p < 0.001)
and thickness (r 0.867; p < 0.001) with apparent viscosity at
50 s1 (h50). A good correlation between oral perception and
rheometric viscosity at similar shear rate was reported in an earlier
study of Skriver et al. (1999). The increase in number of interacting
particles and fateprotein interactions is the likely reason for the
enhancement of the viscosity of low-fat yoghurt.
It should also be noted that the sensory attributes mainly related
to the fat content (Fig. 4) were highly correlated with creaminess,
which was thus further examined. Not surprisingly, most of these
were texture attributes comprised of oral and visual descriptors,
but some avour and aroma attributes were also important for
creaminess. Good correlations (0.76  r  0.95; p  0.05) of
creaminess with these sensory attributes were obtained for stirred
reduced-fat yoghurts (Table 4). Spoon and oral viscosity, velvetiness and thickness of yoghurt contributed positively to creaminess,
whereas the perception of creaminess was impaired by the amount
of visible surface water present. These ndings reinforce the
concept of creaminess as a multidimensional descriptor involving
appearance, avour and texture attributes in food (Janhoj et al.,
2006; Johansen et al., 2008). Soft cheese aroma and buttermilk
aroma were negatively correlated with creaminess because these
attributes were associated with expelled whey (surface water), as
indicated by a strong correlation of cheese aroma (r 0.960;
p 0.001) and buttermilk aroma (r 0.979; p < 0.001) with surface

1476

Chr.I.E. Ciron et al. / Food Hydrocolloids 25 (2011) 1470e1476

References

Table 4
Correlations of creaminessa with selected sensory attributes.
Attributes

Pearson correlation coefcient (r)

p-Valueb

Appearance
Surface water
A-Smooth
A-Viscous

0.889
0.729
0.943

0.007
NS
0.001

Aroma
Ar-Buttermilk
Ar-Soft cheese

0.858
0.833

0.014
0.020

Flavour
Salty

0.729

NS

Texture (mouthfeel)
M-Viscous
M-Meltdown
M-Firm
M-Velvety
M-Curdy
M-Cohesive
M-Thick

0.934
0.190
0.721
0.766
0.548
0.599
0.843

0.002
NS
NS
0.018
NS
NS
0.017

a
b

The samples were evaluated using the assessors own denition of creaminess.
NS denotes non-signicance at p < 0.05.

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also a key factor that inuences the perception of creaminess in
yoghurt. Increased syneresis had an undesirable effect not only on
appearance and texture of yoghurt, but also on aroma and avour.

4. Conclusions
There were clear differences in the effects of high-pressure
microuidization and conventional homogenization of heattreated milk on rheological and sensory properties of reduced-fat
stirred yoghurts. Non- and low-fat yoghurts made with microuidized milk had different sensory proles from those produced
using the conventional method, arising from the changes in rheological properties as a result of modication of size and microstructure of milk proteins and fat globules. High-pressure
microuidization of heat-treated milk was more effective than
conventional homogenization in delivering desirable texture in
low-fat yoghurt, showing marked improvements in viscosity,
creaminess and texture attributes. Thus, microuidization has the
potential for producing high-quality reduced-fat yoghurts.

Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Department of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food for funding this Food Institutional Research
Measure project (06RDTMFRC431) under the National Development Plan.

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