The role of fat content in coconut milk: Stability and digestive properties

The fat in coconut milk contributes to unique flavour, while increasing fat content affects stability of the coconut milk. In this study, coconut water and fat were separated, recombined, and homogenized to obtain coconut milk with different fat contents (0-20 %). Emulsifying properties, stability, and digestibility of coconut milk with different fat contents were comprehensively evaluated. The results showed that as the fat content increased from 0 to 20 %, the droplet size increased from 2.18 to 4.70 mu m and the viscosity showed an increasing trend. During storage and freeze-thaw, coconut milk with 5 % and 10 % fat content showed excellent stability. In addition, coconut milk with 10 % fat content had superior fat digestibility, which was related to high affinity of pancrelipase. In short, this study revealed that fat content below 10 % can withstand environmental factors such as storage, lipid oxidation, and freeze-thaw, which can be accurately developed as coconut milk products.