What is Butter?

 

Butter is made from cream with a fat content of at least 35%. The cream is churned or agitated, to remove the majority of the water leaving about 80% fat. You need the cream from twenty litres of whole milk to produce just one kilogram of butter.

 

What are the substances that make up butter?

 

Butter has two types of fats:

  • Triglycerides, which are the main kinds of fat found in milk and milk products, and,
  • Fatty Acids which can be Saturated, Mono-unsaturated and Poly-unsaturated.
  • All the fats sit inside globules.

     

    Butter also contains proteins. These come in the form of a substance called casein which is present in the forms of:

     

  • alpha,
  • beta, and
  • kappa casein.
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    There is also calcium in butter. Most of this calcium is contained within a form that is attached to the casein micelles.

     

    Butter also contains Carbohydrates (Lactose). Lactose is a disaccharide but it can be broken down into glucose and galactose. Lactic acid bacteria can convert lactose to lactic acid.

     

    And the rest of butter is water, salt and curd.