Physicochemical stability and in vitro digestibility of goat milk affected by freeze-thaw cycles

• 1.Freeze-thaw cycle reduced physicochemical stability of goat milk. • 2. Freeze-thaw cycles led to protein oxidation in goat milk and structural disorder. • 3. Freeze-thaw cycles improved in vitro digestibility of goat milk. Freezing and thawing are widely used in dairy processing to ensure the continuous supply of raw milk. In virtue of this, the influences of freeze-thaw cycles on physicochemical stability and in vitro digestibility of goat milk were evaluated. Experimental results showed that repeated freeze-thaw cycles led to the increase of acidity and medium-short chain free fatty acids of goat milk, and the significant decrease of fat and apparent viscosity. Furthermore, the degree of protein oxidation was enhanced, and the secondary structure changed to random coil. The particle size distribution and microstructure all showed the aggregation of goat milk droplets, resulting in the decrease of physical stability. Nevertheless, repeated freeze-thaw cycles could enhance the simulated in vitro digestibility and antioxidant capacity of digested products. These results are helpful to evaluate the quality characteristics of raw goat milk and provide theoretical reference for the industrial production of goat milk products.