Cholesterol Reduction and Fat Fractionation Technologies for Milk Fat: An Overview

Abstract

Milk fat is an important source of dietary fat and imparts excellent flavor and superior mouthfeel to dairy products. However, the nutritional image and technical properties of milk fat, which make it unsuitable for many food applications, have contributed to its mounting surplus. Various means of improving the utilization of milk fat are under active development worldwide. Because the dairy industry is highly regulated, physical modification of milk fat composition through the application of fractionation processes, which could result in fat fractions with favorable technical and nutritional properties, appears to be the most promising option. Reduction of cholesterol and milk fat fractionation technologies that have either been developed or are under development are critically reviewed, and the prospect of these technologies is assessed.