Measurement of homogenisation efficiency of milk by laser diffraction and centrifugation

For ultra high temperature (UHT) milk, the development of a cream layer is a shelf life limiting factor that can be controlled by homogenising the milk correctly. This article suggests a method to measure homogenisation efficiency using laser diffraction. Milk was diluted with a protein cluster dissolving solution before measurement with a Malvern Mastersizer 3000. To avoid multiple scattering obscuration needed to be 1.5–3.5%. The D[5;3] (μm) value extracted from the particle size distribution could, with the equation developed, be directly correlated to a homogenisation efficiency (NIZO value) obtained by centrifugation of the milk sample. The equation presented is only valid for monomodal distributions and analysis should be performed on freshly produced milk.