Identification of moisture nanoparticles in the butter sub-microstructure

Abstract Formation of sub-microstructure, including the nucleation and growth of ultradisperse water particles (with the average diameter of 46 nm) in the butter, is studied by means of electron microscopy. It is shown that addition of the red-beet cryopowder leads to the formation of water particles (3 nm in diameter) at the interfaces between monomolecular layers of the milkfat triglycerides. The larger moisture nanoparticles of 10–16-nm diameter are formed at the edges and vertices of octahedral, dodecahedral, and icosahedral crystals consisting of the high-melting milkfat fractions.