Effect of Homogenization Temperature and Pressure on Lipoprotein Lipase Activity and Free Fatty Acids Accumulation in Milk

This study demonstrated that homogenization did not increase the activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in spite of a fast accumulation of free fatty acids (FFA). Two homogenization pressures (100 and 170 bar) and two temperatures (40 ̊C and 50 ̊C) were examined. The activity of LPL was analyzed and the formation of FFA was measured with two different methods, the B.D.I.-method and a nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) method. A homogenization temperature of 50 ̊C resulted in a decreased LPL activity compared to 40 ̊C. No effect of homogenization pressure was found. Analyzing FFA concentration with the B.D.I.-method resulted in significant effect of homogenization temperature and no effect of pressure. The largest formation of FFA was found in milk homogenized at 40 ̊C. Using the NEFA method, another result was obtained, indicating no effect of homogenization temperature and a larger FFA accumulation at 100 bar than at 170 bar. Both analytic methods demonstrated significant production of FFA during 60 min incubation at homogenization temperature after treatment. The level of FFA in the milk samples immediately after homogenization was very high, demonstrating that LPL cleaves the triglycerides very rapidly when the native membrane was damaged. The regression between the B.D.I.-method and the NEFA was fair in the interval between 4 and 14 mmol/100 g fat, whereas at higher concentrations, the correlation was poor.