Buttermilk and its use by the food industry

Abstract

The Brazilian dairy sector accounts for a significant portion of the national economy, supplying the domestic and foreign markets with a wide variety of products and consequently generating waste. Among these stand out the buttermilk, generated in the processing of butter during the whipping of the cream and with a greater polluting potential than the whey. Therefore, the industry is looking for alternatives to use these as co-products. Buttermilk presents the composition, technological and functional characteristics that make it an excellent ingredient to be used by the industry. Due to this, a theoretical survey was carried out in this work and a summary was elaborated regarding the applications involving buttermilk in different products. The information was collected based on articles, theses, and dissertations from the last 15 years using descriptors in English and Portuguese. After the preliminary selection, a more in-depth analysis was carried out to select only those surveys that presented sensory, physical-chemical, and technological results related to the use of buttermilk. The results showed that it is possible to apply in foods such as bread and various dairy products such as yogurt, fermented milk, cheeses, ice cream, and others. The effect on the sensory aspect varies a lot in relation to the concentration of buttermilk used and the increase in calcium, proteins, and functional compounds together with the addition are almost always observed. It also proves the possibility of use for the composition of microencapsulation of oils for infant formulations. It is concluded that buttermilk can be explored by the food industry for different purposes, contributing positively to the environment.