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FT-NIR spectroscopy allows a rapid and efficient analysis of the major parameters fat, protein, dry matter, and lactose as well as more specialized special parameters such as salt and pH. It is utilized today in many companies for analysis of solid and paste-like products, such as milk powder, cheese, butter or yogurt. These products are measured without time-consuming sample preparation in diffuse reflection.

The optimal solution for analyzing raw milk and liquid milk products is a combination of the FT-NIR spectrometer MPA with the Liquid Sampling Module LSM, which allows semi-automatic sample feeding and auto-cleaning routines of the system. The LSM is a dual system, i.e. depending on the product and its viscosity the sample can either be pre-treated by the homogenizer or directly fed into the flow cell by a peristaltic pump. This will significantly extended the service life of the homogenizer without having to make hardware adjustments.

In terms of accuracy and repeatability, the FT-NIR analysis is comparable to the traditional FT-IR systems, but has significantly more options. Not only milk, but also liquid derivatives of milk and milk products can be measured independently of the formulation with the same instrument. Even very viscous samples such as condensed milk and concentrates can be analyzed easily due to the large optical path length of the flow cell (1000 um). The combination of MPA and LSM can handle sugar containing products such as yogurt drinks, flavoured milk and even products with high fibre content such as cat milk.

In addition to the different types of milk, following sample types can be analyzed:

• Whey and whey concentrates
• Whey protein and lactose concentrates
• Cream and whey cream
• Permeate and Retentate
• (Sweet) Condensed milk
• Milk and yoghurt based drinks
• Melted ice cream.

Bruker Optics offers a simple and reliable solution for the milk-processing industry together with ready-to-use calibrations for milk and dairy products.