1

12/19/2012 QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

OF UHT MILK
- S.Aparna Muthu Thai
BTM18004
B.Tech Food Technology (2018-
2022)

LIQUID PROCESSING OF MILK

CFDT,TANUVAS
 QUALITY REQUIREMENTS OF UHT MILK
I

INTRODUCTION
UHT stands for ultra-high temperature. UHT is a type of thermal
processing. It is also known as flash pasteurisation.
it was developed in the 1960s, and generalised for common use by
1970s. UHT milk has longer shelf life when compared to pasteurised
milk; UHT milk is generally packed in tetra pack packaging

In UHT processing the milk is subjected to temperatures as high as

130o-150oc for a 2-3 seconds,
And immediately cooled to room temperature.

Tetra pack UHT line (source: Wikipedia)

Tetra pack UHT line (source: Wikipedia)

Tetra pack UHT line(source : Wikipedia) ( source:

Wikipedia)

UHT line (indiamart.com for sale)

Advantages of UHT milk

1. UHT milk has lesser microbial load when compared to
pasteurised milk
2. UHT milk has a much longer shelf life. It can typically last six-
nine months in room temperatures if unopened. While
pasteurised milk lasts about 2 weeks.
3. Since, it requires no refrigeration in storage, the overall energy
cost is less in comparison
Disadvantages of UHT milk
1. Not designed to handle small quantities of milk
2. Greater accumulation of milk stones in heating section
3. Gaskets require constant attention for the detection of
possible leaks
4. 20-30% loss of vitamin B complexes can happen during UHT
processing , folate binding protein(FBP) levels are also
significantly reduced as compared to raw milk

Quality requirements of UHT milk

The qualitative standards of UHT milk can be classified as being of two
types:

1. Quality of raw milk viable for UHT processing

This refers to the biochemical parameters and physiochemical
properties that a milk must have in order to be UHT
processable.
2. Quality of UHT processed milk
This refers to the quality standards UHT milk must live up to
in order to be sold in the market.
This includes microbial load less than stipulated value,
sanitation, package without leaks/tears , organoleptic quality
etc.
 Quality parameters of raw milk :
1. Both raw and homogenised milk can be used for UHT
processing
2. Colour, smell, taste tests used to assess ora=ganoleptic
quality and physical condition of milk
3. pH of milk should not be below 6.6 at room
temperature(20oc)
this is because any lesser pH will cause too much acidity that
might lead to instability. This means that extreme heat
processing like UHT will lead to undesired precipitation of
milk
4. any milk should be heat stable
this is tested using clot on boil test at reception, if the milk
sample fails the test then it can’t be UHT processed as high
temperatures cant be applied
5. alcohol alizarin test
this test uses alcohol alizarin to test the stability of milk. This
test is also done at reception to determine with the milk is
suitable for high temperature processing

factors affecting raw milk quality used for UHT processing

1. contamination during transport may cause spoilage the
raw milk before processing
2. improper raw milk may cause instability in milk protein
causing gelation after UHT processing
3. contamination by undesirable contaminants like cow
dung, metal, soil etc
 quality parameters of UHT processed milk:
 UHT milk contains the same amount of calories,
protein, fat, and calcium as raw milk; protein
structures may change therefore UHT milk is not
used for cheese making
 Folate content is 1UG as compared to 9 ug in
pasteurised milk
 Burnt flavour/colour due to browning during
processing is to be avoided
 Microbial load value should be less than 10 for the
packing to be viable for sale
Temperature and time selection for given milk based on
biochemical parameters & limitations :
REFERENCES:
1. Oxford University Press,Sukumar De ,Outlines of dairy
technology,
Chapter1:Market Milk(1-90)

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-
temperature_processing

3. http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/course/view.php?id=
121