The impact of heat treatment of bovine milk on gastric emptying and nutrient appearance in peripheral circulation in healthy females: a randomized controlled trial comparing pasteurized and ultra-high temperature milk

BACKGROUND

Heat treatments of dairy, including pasteurization and ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing, alter milk macromolecular structures, and ultimately affect digestion. In vitro, animal, and human studies show faster nutrient release or circulating appearance after consuming UHT milk (UHT-M) compared with pasteurized milk (PAST-M), with a faster gastric emptying (GE) rate proposed as a possible mechanism.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the impact of milk heat treatment on GE as a mechanism of faster nutrient appearance in blood. We hypothesized that GE and circulating nutrient delivery following consumption would be faster for UHT-M than PAST-M.

METHODS

In this double-blind randomized controlled cross-over trial, healthy female (n = 20; 27.3 ± 1.4 y, mean ± SD) habitual dairy consumers, consumed 500 mL of either homogenized bovine UHT-M or PAST-M (1340 compared with 1320 kJ). Gastric content volume (GCV) emptying half-time (T50) was assessed over 3 h by magnetic resonance imaging subjective digestive symptoms, plasma amino acid, lipid and B vitamin concentrations, and gastric myoelectrical activity were measured over 5 h.

RESULTS

Although GCV T50 did not differ (102 ± 7 min compared with 89 ± 8 min, mean ± SEM, UHT-M and PAST-M, respectively; P = 0.051), GCV time to emptying 25% of the volume was 31% longer following UHT-M compared with PAST-M (42 ± 2 compared with 32 ± 4 min, P = 0.004). Although GCV remained larger for a longer duration following UHT-M (treatment × time interaction, P = 0.002), plasma essential amino acid AUC was greater following UHT-M than PAST-M (55,324 ± 3809 compared with 36,598 ± 5673 μmol·min·L-1, P = 0.006). Heat treatment did not impact gastric myoelectrical activity, plasma appetite hormone markers or subjective appetite scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to expectations, GE was slower with UHT-M, yet, as anticipated, aminoacidemia was greater. The larger GCV following UHT-M suggests that gastric volume may poorly predict circulating nutrient appearance from complex food matrices. Dairy heat treatment may be an effective tool to modify nutrient release by impacting digestion kinetics.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY

www.anzctr.org.au (ACTRN12620000172909).

Saccharomyces cerevisiae improves rennet-induced gelation of ultra-high temperature milk

Heating milk at high temperatures impairs its renneting properties, but rennet-induced curds can be formed from ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Herein, we measured physicochemical indices of UHT milk inoculated with S. cerevisiae before rennet addition, monitored the kinetics of gel formation, and investigated the physicochemical properties and microstructure of rennet-induced curds to explore the mechanisms by which S. cerevisiae influenced rennet-induced gelation of UHT milk. Compared with untreated pasteurized cow milk and UHT milk, the ethanol content was increased, the pH was decreased, the particle size and ζ-potential were increased, the time points at which the elasticity index began to increase were advanced, and the maximum elasticity index was increased for UHT milk inoculated with S. cerevisiae. The number of S. cerevisiae cells affected the structure of rennet-induced curds; with few cells added, the protein network of curds was continuous and tight, the mean square displacement curves showed an asymptotic behavior, and the water retention capacity and curd yield were high; with more cells added, the loosely entangled proteins aggregated, the continuity of the network was destroyed, and the curd yield decreased. In summary, a low number of S. cerevisiae cells (<1.0 × 10⁷ cfu/mL) can increase particle size, ζ-potential, and ethanol content, and decrease pH of S. cerevisiae-inoculated UHT milk, thereby accelerating the aggregation reactions after enzymatic reaction and improving the renneting properties.

Lactose oxidase: Enzymatic control of Pseudomonas to delay age gelation in UHT milk

Shelf-stable milk is consumed worldwide, and this market is expected to continue growing. One quality challenge for UHT milk is age gelation during shelf life, which is in part caused by bacterial heat-stable proteases (HSP) synthesized during the raw milk storage period before heat processing. Some Pseudomonas spp. are HSP producers, and their ability to grow well at refrigeration temperature make them important spoilage organisms for UHT processors to control. Previous studies have shown that lactose oxidase (LO), a natural and commercially available enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide and lactobionic acid from lactose, can control bacterial growth in raw milk. In this research, we investigated the ability of LO to control HSP producer outgrowth, and thus delay age gelation in UHT milk. Six strains of Pseudomonas spp. were selected based on their ability to synthesize HSP and used as a cocktail to inoculate both raw and sterile (UHT) milk at a level of 1 × 10⁵ cfu/mL. Groups were treated with and without LO, stored for 4 d at 6°C, and monitored for cell count and pH. Additionally, a sample from each was tested for HSP activity via particle size analysis (average effective diameter at 90° angle and 658 nm wavelength) and visual inspection on each day of the storage period. The HSP activity results were contrasted using Tukey's HSD test, which showed that in UHT milk, a LO treatment (0.12 g/L) effectively prevented gelation as compared with the control. In raw milk, however, a concentration of 0.24 g/L of LO was needed to obtain a similar effect. This test was scaled up to 19-L pilot plant batches of raw milk where they were challenged with Pseudomonas cocktail, treated with LO for 3 d, and then UHT processed. Resulting UHT milk bottles were monitored for gelation. Significant differences in particle size between the LO-treated samples and the control were observed as early as 1 mo after processing, and gelation was not detected in the LO-treated samples through 6 mo of storage. These results demonstrated that LO can be used to delay age gelation in UHT milk induced by HSP-producing Pseudomonas spp., representing an opportunity to improve quality and reduce postproduction losses in the shelf-stable milk market sector.

Antioxidant Capability of Ultra-high Temperature Milk and Ultra-high Temperature Soy Milk and their Fermented Products Determined by Four Distinct Spectrophotometric Methods

Background:

Due to the recent emerging information on the antioxidant properties of soy products, substitution of soy milk for milk in the diet has been proposed by some nutritionists. We aimed to compare four distinct antioxidant measuring methods in the evaluation of antioxidant properties of industrial ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, UHT soy milk, and their fermented products by Lactobacillus plantarum A7.

Materials and Methods:

Ascorbate auto-oxidation inhibition assay, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging method, hydrogen peroxide neutralization assay and reducing activity test were compared for the homogeneity and accuracy of the results.

Results:

The results obtained by the four tested methods did not completely match with each other. The results of the DPPH assay and the reducing activity were more coordinated than the other methods. By the use of these methods, the antioxidant capability of UHT soy milk was measured more than UHT milk (33.51 ± 6.00% and 945 ± 56 μM cysteine compared to 8.70 ± 3.20% and 795 ± 82 μM cysteine). The negative effect of fermentation on the antioxidant potential of UHT soy milk was revealed as ascorbate auto-oxidation inhibition assay, DPPH method and reducing activity tests ended to approximately 52%, 58%, and 80% reduction in antioxidant potential of UHT soy milk, respectively.

Conclusions:

The antioxidative properties of UHT soy milk could not be solely due to its phenolic components. Peptides and amino acids derived from thermal processing in soy milk probably have a main role in its antioxidant activity, which should be studied in the future.

Detection and quantification of viable Bacillus cereus group species in milk by propidium monoazide quantitative real-time PCR

The Bacillus cereus group includes important spore-forming bacteria that present spoilage capability and may cause foodborne diseases. These microorganisms are traditionally evaluated in food using culturing methods, which can be laborious and time-consuming, and may also fail to detect bacteria in a viable but nonculturable state. The purpose of this study was to develop a quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) combined with a propidium monoazide (PMA) treatment to analyze the contamination of UHT milk by B. cereus group species viable cells. Thirty micrograms per milliliter of PMA was shown to be the most effective concentration for reducing the PCR amplification of extracellular DNA and DNA from dead cells. The quantification limit of the PMA-qPCR assay was 7.5 × 10(2) cfu/mL of milk. One hundred thirty-five UHT milk samples were analyzed to evaluate the association of PMA to qPCR to selectively detect viable cells. The PMA-qPCR was able to detect B. cereus group species in 44 samples (32.6%), whereas qPCR without PMA detected 78 positive samples (57.8%). Therefore, the PMA probably inhibited the amplification of DNA from cells that were killed during UHT processing, which avoided an overestimation of bacterial cells when using qPCR and, thus, did not overvalue potential health risks. A culture-based method was also used to detect and quantify B. cereus sensu stricto in the same samples and showed positive results in 15 (11.1%) samples. The culture method and PMA-qPCR allowed the detection of B. cereus sensu stricto in quantities compatible with the infective dose required to cause foodborne disease in 3 samples, indicating that, depending on the storage conditions, even after UHT treatment, infective doses may be reached in ready-to-consume products.

Improve intra-uterine insemination in rabbits using ultra-high temperature skim milk as extender to keep semen at room temperature

Two experiments were carried out to examine in vitro quality and in vivo fertility of rabbit semen diluted in ultra-high temperature (UHT) skim milk. In the first experiment, pooled ejaculates of 10 adult rabbits were divided in three aliquots. Each aliquot was diluted in saline solution, TrisC or UHTm extender and kept at room temperature for 24 h. Sperm quality assessment was performed during all the incubation periods. In the second experiment, 27 adult rabbit does were inseminated with semen incubated for 5 h. Embryo recovery was performed 96 h after insemination. Results showed that treatments diluted in UHTm registered the highest values of spermatozoon with total motility, intact and functional plasma membrane and greater number of embryos recovered in rabbit does. We conclude that UHT skim milk would be a good extender for improved intra-uterine insemination in rabbits and to keep sperm cells for several hours at room temperature.