Butter is the fat part of milk, separated from the lattice by an inversion process
of phase, deriving from the cream. The result of the process is an emulsion, mainly
of water, in which sugars and proteins are dissolved, in fats, in whose fluid phase
they partially crystallize. It is a fluid with a softening point close to
room temperature (32-35 °C). Appearance solid and soft consistency with a color
variable from milky white to strong yellow, obtained from lipidic part of the milk of various
animals by inversion of the cream and possible fermentation, in the European tradition
continental, or salting, in Anglo-Saxon countries. It is used as a condiment and in cooking,
similarly to vegetable oils and lard. Apart from food use, it has found use as an
ingredient in cosmetics, medicines and lubricants. In temperate climates, butter is soft
at room temperature; thanks to a melting point between 28 and 33 °C it melts easily.
It is usually pale yellow, and can range from deep yellow to almost white.
Indicatively, as regards the natural product e in products deriving from the milk of
freshly fed animals, it is white in winter and more yellow in summer, due to the different
feeding of dairy animals, a source of natural carotenoids.
The yellow color can also bethe consequence of alterations, from rancidity
to eventual increased bacterial load acquired, due to a relatively long period
of time elapsed between milking and buttering, moreover it can be artificially
colored with carotene and others substances.
The white colour, on the other hand, can be used for industrial fusion processes.
According to the Italian law (l. 202/1983) the denomination without adjectives of butter
"is reserved for the product obtained from the cream obtained from cow's milk and
the product obtained from cow's milk whey" and not may contain various added fats;
as overwritten there are varieties of butter of other origins.
Buffalo butter (Bubalus bubalis), for example, is a typical product from Campania,
while yak butter (Bos grunniens), is a traditional ingredient of Tibetan
dishes and drinks, such as tsampa, and is added to tea constituting themain drink of the
country, as well as in Bhutan, where there is the famous butter tea. (source Wikipedia)



(selection 2023 )