MEASUREMENT OF PARTICLE-SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN MILK HOMOGENIZED BY A MICROFLUIDIZER - ESTIMATION OF POPULATIONS OF PARTICLES WITH RADII LESS-THAN 100 NM

Different light-scattering techniques (integrated and dynamic) were us ed to study the overall distribution of particle sizes in milk homogen ized using a microfluidization technique. This demonstrated that only integrated light scattering was able to show clearly that a population of small fat droplets, with radii less than 100 nm, was produced duri ng the homogenization, This population of small particles had not prev iously been detected, nor were they clearly demonstrated using dynamic light scattering, but their presence was confirmed by physical separa tion using centrifugation and study of the separated fractions by ligh t scattering, The presence of these particles may require revision of the methods used to determine size distributions in homogenized system s. It will also affect the analyses of adsorbed layers of protein in e mulsions and of the kinetics of particle aggregation in emulsions whic h are undergoing destabilization. (C) 1995 Academic Press. Inc.