The Physicochemical Analysis and Comparison of Butter Blend Samples Stored in Two Different Temperatures at 15°C and Ambient Over 5 Months

Abstract

Butter Blend is an edible fat product that has a similar basis to margarine with the addition of butter oil that could be used for a variety of uses including cooking and confectionery. Storage and its conditions is one of the factors that affects the stability and thus the shelf life of the product. This study investigated the shelf stability of a margarine formulation blend stored in two different temperatures; 15°C and ambient temperature (25°C-28°C) by analysing its physicochemical properties via testing for peroxide value, free fatty acids, and color. In addition to this, a sensory evaluation is also conducted to give a consumer's perspective on the profiles of the margarine samples using a 9-scale hedonic test along with a description. The results showed that storage temperature difference results in a higher PV result on the ambient temperature samples with a total increase of 442.59%, but have relatively similar and constant results for FFA (albeit with a slight trend of increase) with an increase of 6-7% in the chilled sample and 30% in ambient, as well as similar color measurements which only show a 4.65-10% increase/decrease. Panelists from sensorial evaluation also showed to have preference for the butter blend stored in ambient conditions based on overall acceptance. This experiment revealed that the butter blend product should be ideally stored in ambient conditions compared to chilled conditions for maximum acceptability, but storing in chilled conditions would help preserve its stability the most.