Chemical and sensory changes during shelf-life of UHT hydrolyzed-lactose milk produced by “in batch” system employing different commercial lactase preparations

Manufacturing shelf-stable Ultra-high temperature hydrolyzed-lactose milk (UHLM) is a challenge for dairy producers, as the product undergoes chemical changes during storage due to both reducing sugars reactivity and proteolysis arising from the impurity of the lactase preparations. In the present study, the “in batch” production system, which includes the addition of the lactase before the thermal treatment, was demonstrated a valuable alternative to the more popular “in pack” system, where lactase is added directly into each milk package after thermal sterilization. The features of the technology were investigated by monitoring the changes in free amino acids, volatile organic compounds, color and sensory properties of UHLMs produced with three different lactase preparations (LPs), up to 120 days at 20 °C. Upon UHT processing, the proteolytic side activity of lactases was minimized, so minimum breakdown of milk protein was achieved. The release of free amino acids was dependent on the lactase purity only in the early production phases, whereas it did not change over time. The Strecker aldehydes benzaldehyde and 2-methylbutanal resulted as effective markers to correlate with the initial lactase purity during storage. Color and sensory slightly changed during storage but were poorly correlated with the different lactases, resembling to phenomena typical of milk aging. This latter result suggested that production costs might be lowered by opting for less-purified lactases when considering the “in batch” technology, supporting the application of this production system for the design of UHLM with high-quality standards and low risk of alterations during shelf-life.