Quality Testing of Butter

Requirements (Instruments, Chemicals & Other) :

  1. Butter sample
  2. Neutralized ethanol
  3. Sodium hydroxide solution (0.1 N)
  4. Phenolphthalein indicator
  5. Burette with stand
  6. Conical flask (250 ml)
  7. Weighing balance
  8. Hot plate

Procedure :

  1. Weigh accurately 5 g of butter sample into a 250 ml conical flask.
  2. Add 50 ml of neutralized ethanol into the flask.
  3. Heat the flask gently at about 50°C to dissolve the butter completely.
  4. Add 2 drops of phenolphthalein indicator to the mixture.
  5. Titrate the hot solution with 0.1 N NaOH solution until a light pink color persists.
  6. Note the burette reading and calculate the FFA content

Calculation :
FFA content (% Oleic acid) = (V × N × 0.282) / W × 100

Where,
V = Volume of NaOH used (ml)
N = Normality of NaOH solution (0.1 N)
W = Weight of butter sample (g)
0.282 = Milliequivalent weight of oleic acid.