Relationship of salt content and weed taint perception in butter

Abstract

It was demonstrated in laboratory and commercial trials that the addition of salt to unsalted butter increased the organoleptic perception of inherent weed-tainting substances in butter.
When brine concentrations below 5.0 per cent. were obtained in unsalted butter which graded 93 and 92 pt. initially, insignificant changes in quality were evident. However, at levels of normal salting, i.e. a brine concentration of 9.60 per cent. representing a 1.52 per cent. salt content in a 15.80 per cent. moisture, a loss of one grade point occurred. When brine concentration was increased to a level of approximately 14.0 per cent., quality deteriorated by a further t pt. This degree of quality deterioration at higher salt concentrations was constant for butters of differing initial quality.