Effects of storage temperature on physico-chemical characteristics of semi-skimmed UHT milk

Storage of UHT milk results in physico-chemical changes, which can sometimes lead to aggregation or sedimentation of milk. In this study, close attention was paid to the reactions occurring in semi-skimmed UHT milk during 6 months of storage at 4, 20 and 40 °C. Overall milk characterization revealed the development of the Maillard reaction and proteolysis which led to acidification of the milk. One hundred eighty-one peptides were identified by mass spectrometry for the freshly processed UHT milk and the milks stored 6 months at 4, 20 and 40 °C. The cleavage sites gave information concerning the possible actors of proteolysis. Plasmin, cathepsins B, D and G, elastase and proteases from Pseudomonas fluorescens B52 were thus found to be potential contributors to enzymatic proteolysis. Non-enzymatic proteolysis induced by heat-treatment and storage was also observed. Despite these modifications, milk particles (casein micelles and homogenized fat globules) did not exhibit many changes in zeta-potential, except for the last storage time at 40 °C where a decrease of the absolute value of about -3 mV was observed. The decrease in size in milks stored at 20 and 40 °C was only about 20 nm after 6 months. Similarly, storage of UHT milk showed that the higher the storage temperature the lower the heat stability and the higher the phosphate stability. Storage leads to physico-chemical changes in milk and, although some reactions such as acidification and proteolysis are known to be destabilizing, some of them are probably stabilizing to counterbalance the negative effects.