Oxidation and degradation kinetics of lactic butter supplemented with Myrtus communis essential oils

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate lipid oxidation/degradation kinetics of lactic butter manufactured from heat-treated and cultured cream, supplemented with Myrtus communis essential oils and stored at 4°C. Lipid oxidation followed zero-order, while vitamin degradation followed first-order reaction kinetics in fresh lactic butter. Optimising heat treatments of the cream at 70°C and 80°C for 30 s and using M. communis EOs reduced lipid oxidation and α-tocopherol degradation (P ≤ 0.05) of lactic butter samples. It was concluded that M. communis EOs is effective as antioxidant as compared to synthetic ascorbyl palmitate for improving stability of lactic butter.