Effect of processing on coconut milk
The extracted coconut milk contained 17–18% fat and
1.8–2% protein. The particle size distributions were
bimodal and the effective particle size was only slightly
greater than the primary droplet size (12.1 and 11.5 mm,
respectively), suggesting that the freshly prepared emulsion
was not flocculated (Fig. 1, see also microscopic images
in Fig. 2). The emulsion creamed rapidly and extensively
(Fig. 3) due to its large droplet size.
Homogenization decreased the primary particle size of
the coconut milk emulsion but slightly increased the
effective droplet size (Fig. 1). This suggests that the fine
droplets formed during homogenization quickly flocculated