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Milk and Dairy Products: Linking the Chemistry, Structure, Processing, and...
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Milk and Dairy Products: Linking the Chemistry, Structure, Processing, and Food Properties: Second Edition

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Dairy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 1869

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shuwen Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: dairy chemistry; dairy processing technology; structure–function relationships of dairy food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lina Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Food Science & Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Interests: dairy products; proteomics; milk processing; milk allergy, protein structure; protein functionality; diabetes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiaomeng Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China
Interests: dairy science; peptides; mechanism of function; fermented milk; casein

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Milk is a complex biological fluid composed of various components such as water, proteins (caseins, whey proteins, and milk fat globule membrane proteins), fats, lactose (oligosaccharides), minerals, and vitamins. Each of these components plays a crucial role in determining the properties and functionality of dairy products. Casein micelles, fat globules, and whey proteins form a complex colloidal system. The size, shape, and distribution of these components determine the physical properties of milk. Various processing techniques (thermal and non-thermal) have been used to transform milk from different animal species (bovine, caprine, camel, ovine, etc.) into different dairy products. These include pasteurization, homogenization, fermentation, concentration, and drying, which may induce changes in the structure and functional properties of milk components and thus influence the texture, mouthfeel, and flavor release of milk and dairy products. Understanding the chemistry, structure, processing, and functionality of milk and dairy products is essential for improving food quality, safety, nutritional value, and function. This knowledge can also help in the development of new dairy products and processing techniques to meet the requirements of consumers.

In this Special Issue, we invite you to contribute submissions (including original research articles and reviews) on milk components from different animal products including their structure, nutritional value, and functionality changes during different processing techniques, and the relationship between chemistry, structure, processing, and food functionality properties, with topics such as the following:

  1. Effects of traditional and novel processing techniques as well as integrated innovative processing routes on the chemistry, structure, digestion and absorption properties, and bioactivity of animal milk and dairy products.
  2. Development of new fermented milk with targeted functionality, evaluation of the function of dairy products, and functional mechanisms of certain types of fermented milk.
  3. Key functional components in milk, especially the evaluation of various functional factors and their interaction, including structure, physical and chemical properties, and in-depth exploration of functionality.
  4. Effects of different heat treatment temperatures on active ingredients, Maillard reaction products, and flavor in fluid milk；
  5. Separation and extraction technologies for new functional ingredients such as lactoferrin and osteopontin.

Dr. Shuwen Zhang
Dr. Lina Zhang
Dr. Xiaomeng Wu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dairy product
  • flavor
  • quality improvement
  • dairy chemistry
  • structure
  • innovative processing techniques
  • bioactivity
  • functionality
  • essential dairy ingredient isolation

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1687 KiB  
Article
A Comparison of the Physicochemical Properties and Sensory Attributes of Ricotta Cheeses Purchased from Retail Outlets in Poland
by Iwona Chwastowska-Siwiecka, Agnieszka Kaca and Jan Miciński
Foods 2025, 14(8), 1413; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081413 - 19 Apr 2025
Viewed by 146
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare selected physicochemical properties and sensory attributes of ricotta cheeses supplied by different producers and purchased from retail outlets in Poland. The experiment was performed on 40 fresh, unripened ricotta cheeses purchased from hypermarkets in the [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to compare selected physicochemical properties and sensory attributes of ricotta cheeses supplied by different producers and purchased from retail outlets in Poland. The experiment was performed on 40 fresh, unripened ricotta cheeses purchased from hypermarkets in the city of Olsztyn, Poland. The cheeses were supplied by four producers. To preserve the producers’ anonymity, the cheeses were divided into four experimental groups marked with the letters A, B, C, and D. Each group consisted of 10 cheeses supplied by the same producer. Immediately after purchase, the cheeses were transported to a laboratory for quantitative and qualitative analyses to determine their moisture contents, active and titratable acidity, shear force, color parameters (L*, a*, b*), chroma (C*), hue angles (h°), whiteness indexes (WIs), yellowness indexes (YIs), and sensory quality. The analyses revealed that the cheeses supplied by producers C and D were characterized by the highest moisture contents and the lowest titratable acidity and shear force values. The ricottas supplied by producer A were characterized by the highest values for lightness on the surface, whereas the group B cheeses were characterized by the highest contribution of redness and yellowness, as well as the highest color saturation (chroma). The contributions of redness and yellowness, chroma, and YI values were highest at the cross-sections of the group B cheeses. The cheeses supplied by producer D were characterized by visible spaces between grains, cracks, and a brittle, crumbly consistency, and they received the lowest scores for appearance at the cross-section for structure and consistency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Milk and Dairy Products: Linking the Chemistry, Structure, Processing, and Food Properties: Second Edition)
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16 pages, 8803 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study on the Physical and Chemical Properties Influenced by Variations in Fermentation Bacteria Groups: Inoculating Different Fermented Mare’s Milk into Cow’s Milk
by Fanyu Kong, Qing Zhao, Shengyuan Wang, Guangqing Mu and Xiaomeng Wu
Foods 2025, 14(8), 1328; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081328 - 11 Apr 2025
Viewed by 313
Abstract
Fermented strains play a crucial role in shaping the physicochemical properties and functionality of fermented cow’s milk. The natural fermentation system demonstrates a certain degree of stability and safety after undergoing continuous domestication. Fermented mare’s milk has been consumed for its intestinal health [...] Read more.
Fermented strains play a crucial role in shaping the physicochemical properties and functionality of fermented cow’s milk. The natural fermentation system demonstrates a certain degree of stability and safety after undergoing continuous domestication. Fermented mare’s milk has been consumed for its intestinal health benefits in regions such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in China. This consumption is closely related to the fermented strains present. Consequently, from the perspective of fermented strains, this study aimed to compare the microbiota diversity of naturally fermented mare’s milk with that of inoculated fermented cow’s milk, using it as a fermentation system to develop new functional fermented cow’s milk products. Water retention, rheology, texture, pH, and titration acidity were analyzed to evaluate the quality of fermented cow’s milk with the obtained transmission strain system. Importantly, the correlation between the property of fermented cow’s milk and the diversity of fermentation system has been thoroughly analyzed. The findings indicate that the gel property of fermented cow’s milk is not directly linked to the strain diversity or the core strain of fermentation. Instead, the abundance of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Hafnia-Obesumbacterium, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter, and Acinetobacter bacteria significantly influences the quality of fermented cow’s milk. Consequently, this study has successfully developed a new type of fermented cow’s milk and provided a reliable theoretical foundation for the functional enhancement of specialized fermented cow’s milk products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Milk and Dairy Products: Linking the Chemistry, Structure, Processing, and Food Properties: Second Edition)
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13 pages, 2756 KiB  
Article
Effects of Different Production Methods on the Quality and Microbial Diversity of Sauerkraut in Northeast China
by Weichao Liu, Yunchao Wang, Tong Zhao, Yunfang Zheng, Guangqing Mu and Fang Qian
Foods 2024, 13(23), 3947; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13233947 - 6 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1007
Abstract
Sauerkraut is a popular fermented food in Northeast China. However, owing to the different production methods used, the quality of commercial sauerkraut is often quite different, which is reflected mainly in the differences between starter culture (Group-L), additive addition (Group-P) and natural fermentation [...] Read more.
Sauerkraut is a popular fermented food in Northeast China. However, owing to the different production methods used, the quality of commercial sauerkraut is often quite different, which is reflected mainly in the differences between starter culture (Group-L), additive addition (Group-P) and natural fermentation (Group-H) methods. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences among the three fermentation methods by measuring physical and chemical indices, microbial diversity indices, flavour indices and volatile substances. The results revealed that there was no significant difference in the physical or chemical indices among the groups. The content of esters and alcohols in Group-L was the highest, and the taste richness, aftertaste-a and aftertaste-b were the highest, which had a positive effect on flavour. The highest level of microbial diversity was found in Group-H, which contained many pathogenic bacteria, such as Janibacter, Pseudomonas, and Vagococcus, which reduced the food safety of sauerkraut. At the genus level, the dominant bacterial genera in the starter and additive groups included Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. The correlation analysis revealed that Group-L was positively correlated with the contents of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus, ethyl oleate and vanillin. In summary, this study evaluated the different production methods of northeast sauerkraut, providing theoretical support for the production of high-quality northeast sauerkraut. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Milk and Dairy Products: Linking the Chemistry, Structure, Processing, and Food Properties: Second Edition)
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