ABSTRACT Milk is one of the most widely consumed foods; however, people with lactase nonpersistence or milk protein allergies have difficulty consuming milk, as well as digesting most dairy products. Therefore, plant‐based butters made from alternative plant‐derived milks have attracted attention. “Fujiharu Butter” is a butter made from plant‐based milk. Although it is produced without cow milk, the sensory characteristics of Fujiharu Butter are said to be similar to those of animal‐based butter. Nonetheless, these sensory characteristics have only been qualitatively assessed and not thoroughly elucidated. This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate Fujiharu Butter in comparison with animal‐based butter and other butter substitutes, such as fat spreads and commercially available soy milk‐derived butter substitutes. The microstructure of Fujiharu Butter was determined using confocal Raman microscopy. Fujiharu Butter was found to be similar to the commercially available animal‐based butter in terms of moisture content, crystal structure, and heat flow, differing from fat spreads and commercially available soy milk‐derived butter substitute. These results suggest that Fujiharu Butter has structural and thermal properties comparable to those of commercially available animal‐based butter. This indicates its potential as an alternative that circumvents dairy‐related dietary restrictions. Practical Applications The Fujiharu Butter evaluated in this study possessed a structure and thermal properties similar to those of animal‐based butter. These findings demonstrate its potential as a novel food ingredient alternative to milk fat and hold promise for application in the development of foods suitable for individuals with milk protein allergies.
Kazama et al. (Thu,) studied this question.