Dairy processing handbook

Publisher
Tetra Pak Processing Systems AB
S-221 86 Lund, Sweden

Text
Gösta Bylund, [Link]. (Dairy Techn.)

Production
Editor: Teknotext AB
Illustrations: Origrit AB
Cover: Torkel Döhmers
Printer: LP Grafiska AB
Printed in 1995

Ordering
Further copies of the Tetra Pak Dairy
Processing Handbook can be or-
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Lecture material such as overhead

transparencies of the illustrations in
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Handbook can be ordered from the
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No portion of the Tetra Pak Dairy

Processing Handbook may be dupli-
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being indicated.
 Contents
1 Primary production of milk 1
2 The chemistry of milk 13
3 Rheology 37
4 Micro-organisms 45
5 Collection and reception of milk 65
6 Building-blocks of dairy processing 73
6.1 Heat exchangers 75
6.2 Centrifugal separators and
milk fat standardisation systems 91
6.3 Homogenisers 115
6.4 Membrane filters 123
6.5 Evaporators 133
6.6 Deaerators 139
6.7 Pumps 143
6.8 Pipes, valves and fittings 153
6.9 Tanks 161
6.10 Process Control 165
6.11 Service systems 175
7 Designing a process line 189
8 Pasteurised milk products 201
9 Longlife milk 215
10 Cultures and starter manufacture 233
11 Cultured milk products 241
12 Butter and dairy spreads 263
13 Anhydrous milk fat 279
14 Cheese 287
15 Whey processing 331
16 Condensed milk 353
17 Milk powder 361
18 Recombined milk products 375
19 Ice cream 385
20 Casein 395
21 Cleaning of dairy equipment 403
22 Dairy effluents 415
Literature 425
Index 427
 Chapter 1

Primary production of milk

Milk production began 6 000 years ago or even earlier. The dairy animals
of today have been developed from untamed animals which, through
thousands of years, lived at different altitudes and latitudes exposed to
natural and, many times, severe and extreme conditions.

Practically everywhere on earth man started domesticating animals. As a

rule herbivorous, multipurpose animals were chosen to satisfy his need of
milk, meat, clothing, etc.
Herbivorous animals were chosen because they are less dangerous and
easier to handle than carnivorous animals. The former did not compete
directly with man for nourishment, since they ate plants which man could
not use himself.

Dairy Processing Handbook/chapter 1 1

 The herbivorous animals used were all ruminants with the exception of
the mare and ass. Ruminants can eat quickly and in great quantities, and
later ruminate the feed. Today, the same animals are still kept for milk pro-
duction, milk being one of the essential food components for man.
The most widespread milking animal in the world is the cow, which is
found on all continents and in nearly all countries.

Table 1.1
Composition of milk from different types of animals.
Animal Protein Casein Whey Fat Carbo- Ash
total protein hydrate
% % % % % %
Human 1.2 0.5 0.7 3.8 7.0 0.2
Horse 2.2 1.3 0.9 1.7 6.2 0.5
Cow 3.5 2.8 0.7 3.7 4.8 0.7
Buffalo 4.0 3.5 0.5 7.5 4.8 0.7
Goat 3.6 2.7 0.9 4.1 4.7 0.8
Sheep 5.8 4.9 0.9 7.9 4.5 0.8

However, we should not forget the other milking animals whose milk is of
great importance to the local population as a source of highly valuable ani-
mal protein and other constituents. Sheep are of exceptional importance
among this group, especially in the Mediterranean countries and in large
areas of Africa and Asia. The number of sheep in the world exceeds one
billion, and they are thus the most numerous of all milk and meat producing
domestic animals.
Sheep are often accompanied by goats, whose contribution to milk and
meat production in the poorest areas should not be overlooked. Both sheep
and goats are a source of cheap, high-quality protein and are mainly kept in
conditions where climatic, topographical, economic, technical or sociologi-
cal factors limit the development of more sophisticated protein production
systems.
Table 1.1 shows the composition of milk from different species of ani-
mals. The figures given, however, are only averages, as the composition for
any species is influenced by a number of factors such as breed, feeding,
climate, etc.

Cow milk
Milk is the only food of the young mammal during the first period of its life.
• The heifer is bred (naturally or The substances in milk provide both energy and the building materials ne-
by insemination) before the cessary for growth. Milk also contains antibodies which protect the young
age of 2 years. mammal against infection. A calf needs about 1 000 litres of milk for growth,
• The gestation period is 9 and that is the quantity which the primitive cow produces for each calf.
months. There has been an enormous change since man took the cow into his
• After calving the cow gives service. Selective breeding has resulted in dairy cows which yield an aver-
milk for 10 months. age of more than 6 000 litres of milk per calf, i.e. six times as much as the
• 1 – 2 months after calving the primitive cow. Some cows can yield 14 000 litres or more.
cow will again be bred. Before a cow can start to produce milk she must have calved first. Hei-
• After having given birth to fers reach sexual maturity at the age of seven or eight months but are not
some 5 calves, the cow is usually bred until they are 15 – 18 months old. The period of gestation is
generally slaughtered. 265 – 300 days, varying according to the breed of cow, so a heifer pro-
duces her first calf at the age of about 2 – 2.5 years.

2 Dairy Processing Handbook/chapter 1

Secretion of milk
Milk is secreted in the cow’s udder – a hemispherical organ divided into
right and left halves by a crease. Each half is divided into quarters by a
shallower transverse crease. Each quarter has one teat with its own sepa-
rate mammary gland, which makes it theoretically possible to get four differ-
ent qualities from the same cow. A sectional view of the udder is shown in
Figure 1.1.
The udder is composed of glandular tissue which contains milk-produ-
cing cells. It is encased in muscular tissue, which gives cohesion to the
body of the udder and protects it against injury from knocks and blows.
The glandular tissue contains a very large number (about 2 billion) of tiny
bladders called alveoli. The actual milk-producing cells are located on the
inner walls of the alveoli, which occur in groups of between 8 and 120. In the Irish village of Blackwater,
Capillaries leading from the alveoli converge into progressively larger milk Big Bertha died on 31 December
ducts which lead to a cavity above the teat. This cavity, known as the cis- 1993. She was probably the
tern of the udder, can hold up to 30 % of the total milk in the udder. oldest cow in the world when she
died at an age of 49 years. The
owner, mr Jerome O’Leary, an-
nonced that Big Bertha would
have been 50 years of age on 15
March 1994.

4
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Fig. 1.1 Sectional view of the udder.

1 Cistern of the udder Flow of blood through the udder
2 Teat cistern approx. 90 000 l/day. Approx.
3 Teat channel 800 – 900 l of blood needed for
4 Alveolus formation of one litre of milk.
The cistern of the udder has an extension reaching down into the teat; this
is called the teat cistern. At the end of the teat there is a channel 1 – 1.5 cm
long. Between milkings the channel is closed by a sphincter muscle which
prevents milk from leaking out and bacteria from entering the udder.
The whole udder is laced with blood and lymph vessels. These bring
nutrient-rich blood from the heart to the udder, where it is distributed by
capillaries surrounding the alveoli. In this way the milk-producing cells are
furnished with the necessary nutrients for the secretion of milk. “Spent”
blood is carried away by the capillaries to veins and returned to the heart.
The flow of blood through the udder amounts to 90 000 litres a day. It takes
between 800 and 900 litres of blood to make one litre of milk.
As the alveoli secrete milk, their internal pressure rises. If the cow is not
milked, secretion of milk stops when the pressure reaches a certain limit.
Increase of pressure forces a small quantity of milk out into the larger ducts
and down into the cistern. Most of the milk in the udder, however, is con-
tained in the alveoli and the fine capillaries in the alveolar area. These capil-
laries are so fine that milk cannot flow through them of its own accord. It
must be pressed out of the alveoli and through the capillaries into the larger
ducts. Muscle-like cells surrounding each alveolus perform this duty during Fig. 1.2 Expression of milk from
milking, see figure 1.2. alveolus.

Dairy Processing Handbook/chapter 1 3

 The lactation cycle
Secretion of milk in the cow’s udder begins shortly before calving, so that
the calf can begin to feed almost immediately after birth. The cow then
continues to give milk for about 300 days. This period is known as lactation.
One to two months after calving the cow can be serviced again. During
the lactation period milk production decreases, and after approx. 300 days
it may have dropped to some 15 – 25 % of its peak volume. At this stage
milking is discontinued to give the cow a non-lactating period of up to 60
days prior to calving again. With the birth of the calf, a new lactation cycle
begins. The first milk the cow produces after calving is called colostrum. It
differs greatly form normal milk in composition and properties. See further in
chapter 2.
A cow is normally productive for five years. Milk production is somewhat
lower during the first lactation period.

Milking
A hormone called oxytocin must be released into the cow’s bloodstream in
order to start the emptying of the udder. This hormone is secreted and
stored in the pituitary gland. When the cow is prepared for milking by the
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correct stimuli, a signal is sent to the gland, which then releases its store of
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oxytocin into the bloodstream.

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In the primitive cow the stimulus is provided by the calf’s attempts to

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suck on the teat. The oxytocin is released when the cow feels the calf suck-
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ing. A modern dairy cow has no calf but is conditioned to react to other
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4 stimuli, i.e. to the sounds, smells and sensations associated with milking.
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7 5 The oxytocin begins to take effect about one minute after preparation
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has begun and causes the muscle-like cells to compress the alveoli. This
Fig. 1.3 Milking takes 5 – 8 minutes. generates pressure in the udder and can be felt with the hand; it is known
as the letdown reflex. The pressure forces the milk down into the teat cis-
tern, from which it is sucked into the teat cup of a milking machine or
pressed out by the fingers during hand milking.
The effect of the letdown reflex gradually fades away as the oxytocin is
diluted and decomposed in the bloodstream, disappearing after 5 – 8 min-
utes. Milking should therefore be completed within this period of time. If the
milking procedure is prolonged in an attempt to “strip” the cow, this places
an unnecessary strain upon the udder; the cow becomes irritated and may
become difficult to milk.

Hand milking
On many farms all over the world milking is still done by hand in the same
way as it has been done for thousands of years. Cows are usually milked by
the same people every day, and are quickly stimulated to let down just by
hearing the familiar sounds of the preparations for milking.
Milking begins when the cow responds with the letdown reflex. The first
lets of milk from the teats are rejected, as this milk often contains large
amounts of bacteria. A careful, visual check of this first milk enables the
milker to detect changes that may indicate that the cow is ill.
Two diagonally opposed quarters are milked at a time: one hand presses
the milk out of the teat cistern, after which the pressure is relaxed to allow
more milk to run down into the teat from the cistern of the udder. At the
same time milk is pressed out of the other teat, so that the two teats are
milked alternately. When two quarters have been stripped this way, the
milker then proceeds to milk the other two until the whole udder is empty.
The milk is collected in pails and poured through a strainer, to remove
coarse impurities, into a churn holding 30 – 50 litres. The churns are then
chilled and stored at low temperature to await transport to the dairy. Immer-
sion or spray chillers are normally used for cooling.

Fig. 1.4 The milk must be poured

through a strainer and then chilled.

4 Dairy Processing Handbook/chapter 1