Abstract
In order to examine physicochemical gelation behavior of ultra high temperature(UHT) pasteurized milk during storage at 4$^{\circ}C$ and 25$^{\circ}C$, pH, electrophoresis, alcohol test, sialic acid contents and free amino groups contents were biweekly determined. The pH of UHT pasteurized milk decreased with increasing storage time. Gelation of the UHT milk occured faster at 25$^{\circ}C$ than at 4$^{\circ}C$ with larger decreasing rate of pH. The alcohol test showed positive results at lower pH than 6.5, which could indicate the casein instability and beginning of gelation. The electrophoretic patterns showed a decrease in the concentrations of all caseins. Degradation of k-casein was faster in all cases, while $\alpha$-casein and $\beta$-casein were also extensively degraded later. The sialic acid contents of the samples increased gradually during storage, and the increasing rate was higher before gel formation. The free amino groups of the samples increased gradually during storage. The increasing rate of free amino groups was faster at 25$^{\circ}C$ than at 4$^{\circ}C$. The samples stored at 25$^{\circ}C$ gelled earlier than those stored at 25$^{\circ}C$, with corresponding increase of free amino groups. The residual proteolytic enzymes, which survived during the UHT heat treatments and were reactivated during storage, could be responsible for UHT pasteurized milk gelation during storage. It is assumed that proteolytic degradation of caseins followed by aggregation would be attributable to complicated reaction mechanism.