Abstract

Fat splitting using enzyme is important in reducing the fat content of human body. Hence in the present work, fat splitting of milk butter was attempted using soybean lecithin. A 3-level central composite design was used for optimization of process variables such as of initial butter, initial enzyme concentration, temperature and digestion time on percentage fat splitting using soybean lecithin. The influence of the variables on percentage fat splitting was represented by a second order polynomial model using results obtained in 31 experimental runs of central composite design. The various effects of the factors were studied by student’s t-test and Fisher’s F-test for analysis of variance. The model fitted well with high coefficient of determination (R² = 0.904) justified an excellent correlation between variables and percentage fat splitting. The predicted optimum conditions for the maximum percentage fat splitting was initial milk butter, 6% (w/v), initial enzyme concentration, 4% (w/v), temperature, 40°C and digestion time 89.99 min for 7.38% (w/w) of experimental percentage of fat splitting.

Key words: Lecithin, milk butter, fat splitting, optimization, central composite design.