Sensory evaluation of nonfat dry milk and skim milk powder

Abstract

Background and Objective: Sensory quality of milk powder is important as it can affect the quality of food products in which the powder is used as an ingredient. The objective of this study was to characterize flavor variability of nonfat dry milk (NFDM) and Skim Milk Powder (SMP) produced in the US. Materials and Methods: In this study, samples of low, medium and high heat NFDM/SMP were obtained from four US processors. Attributes looked for were sweet, cooked/heated, animal, cardboard, paint, astringent, acid, bitter, milkfat, buttery, salt, caramelized and metallic. Attribute intensities were scaled using the 0-15 universal intensity scale characterized by the descriptive sensory analysis method. Results: Sensory evaluation showed that there were significant differences between NFDM/SMP samples for sensory attributes sweet, cooked/heated, animal, cardboard, paint and astringent. Differences noticed for attributes acid, bitter, milkfat, buttery, salt, caramelized and metallic were not significant. Medium and high heat powders tended to have a cooked flavor note. Conclusion: All the evaluated powder samples met the US standard grade requirement for flavor; however, there were significant differences among NFDM/SMP samples in regard to some sensory attributes. It may suggest that differences noted between samples were likely caused by processing conditions.