Volatile Compounds in UHT-Sterilized Milk During Fluorescent Light Exposure and Storage in the Dark ¹

When ultra-high-temperature sterilized milk (140 C for 3.5 sec) was exposed to fluorescent light over a 30-day period at 22 C, acetaldehyde, propanal, pentanal, and hexanal increased in concentration. On storage of the milk in the dark, after a 2-week period of light exposure, these same compounds decreased in concentration. No characteristic patterns were noticed in the other chromatographic peaks. When a five-fold diluted distillate of light-exposed milk was added to normal milk, a taste-panel criticized the milk as pronounced oxidation, tallowy or oily.