Techniques to Measure Milk Fat Globule size

Abstract

The first micrograph of MFGs was captured by Van Leeuwenhoek in 1674 using primitive microscopy (Kernohan and Lepherd 1969). Microscopy is a useful technique as it not only provides measurements of individual MFG size but also visualises shape, distribution and microstructure of MFG, MFGM and fat crystals (Truong et al. 2015; Ong et al. 2010; Precht 1988). Along with microscopy numerous techniques such as Coulter counting (Cornell and Pallansc 1966; Walstra and Oortwijn 1969), laser diffraction, static and dynamic light scattering (Michalski et al. 2001; Robin and Paquin 1991; McCrae and Lepoetre 1996), spectroscopy, ultrasound (Miles et al. 1990), scanning flow cytometry (Konokhova et al. 2014) and electroacoustics (Wade and Beattie 1997) have been employed to estimate the size and size distribution of MFG. These techniques yield complex primary data, which need to be processed mathematically to obtain MFG size data (Huppertz and Kelly 2006). Among these techniques, particle size analysis by small angle light scattering is now widely used to measure MFG size and its distribution.