Hemp seed milk is a promising plant-based alternative to dairy due to its rich nutritional profile and environmental sustainability. However, challenges related to thermal instability and phase separation hinder its commercial viability. This study aimed to improve the formulation and processing of hemp seed milks derived from de-hulled full-fat and fat-reduced seeds, with a focus on thermal stability under pasteurization conditions. To increase stability and decrease phase separation, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to systematically modify four important processing parameters: seed ratio, ultrasound time, pH value, and mixing time. The physicochemical characteristics of the optimized milks, including their viscosity, creaming index, ζ-potential, and particle size distribution, were described. The emulsion stability and heat-induced aggregation behavior of full-fat and fat-reduced formulations differed significantly. The optimized full-fat hemp seed milk was produced using a seed concentration of 5.23%, a mixing time of 5 min, a sonication duration of 10 min, and an adjusted pH of 8.26, while the optimized hemp seed milk from fat-reduced seeds was prepared using an 11.1% seed-to-water ratio, a mixing time of 10 min, a 10 min ultrasound treatment, and an adjusted pH of 8.5. These parameter sets represent the samples obtained after the RSM optimization process and were used as the optimized formulations for further characterization. The findings showed that the desirability values of normal fat and fat-reduced hemp milk were 76% and 83%, respectively. These findings provide valuable insights into the development of stable, scalable hemp seed milk systems and highlight the critical role of seed composition in determining functional stability.
Awad et al. (Fri,) studied this question.