Using whey proteins to detect the addition of bovine milk fat in buffalo cream destined for the butter-making process

The addition of cow milk cream to buffalo cream, if not specified on the butter label, is a fraudulent practice. This adulteration is a common because cow cream has lower costs. A chromatographic method based on the detection of specific proteins (as described in DM 10/04/1996) was used to detect bovine cream in buffalo cream destined for the butter-making process. The presence of cow proteins in buffalo cream at increasing percentages was confirmed by increased b-lactoglobulin (b-Lg) A levels (a variant absent in buffalo) and decreased Bx peaks (absent in cow). b-Lg, an adulteration marker, allowed for the identification of 1% cow whey in buffalo whey. The efficiency of the calibration curves was evaluated by analysing test samples prepared with known percentages of cow whey in buffalo whey (3, 8, 27 and 37%). The comparison between the empirical and theoretical values showed an error 3.1%. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that this HPLC method is able to detect the addition of cow cream to buffalo cream. Therefore, it could be applied as a simple and rapid technique for the routine authentication of buffalo cream genuineness destined for the butter-making process.