Analysis of Milk and Dairy Products by Non-destructive Techniques

Milk and dairy products are key elements of the diet for their nutritional value, their implication on maintaining optimal health, and their acceptability in different cultures. The actual increase in dairy consumption has placed this sector as one of the most economically important in the food industry. This demand has placed milk and dairy products as targets for fraud to obtain an economic gain, so thorough quality control not only of products but also of the complete production process is mandatory. In this context, new analytical procedures for rapid screening and confirmation of milk quality and authenticity are required. Due to the high production volumes, recent trends have led to the preferred use of fast technologies that could be applied on-line and in-line with minimal sample preparation, so non-destructive and non-invasive techniques are gaining relevance in the dairy field. This chapter provides an overview of the applicability of the most relevant non-destructive analytical techniques in the routine analysis of milk and dairy products, focusing on their advantages and drawbacks. Therefore, this chapter covers the most commonly used techniques, namely, mid- and near-infrared, Raman and fluorescence spectroscopies, nuclear magnetic resonance, imaging analysis, and acoustic and ultrasound techniques.