milkcoffee dataset

Protein sedimentation during retort sterilization is a persistent quality problem in milk-coffee beverages, and current 4-week accelerated shelf-life tests are too slow for same-shift production decisions. Here we show that ultrasonic phase velocity (UPV) measurement provides a 30-min, non-destructive alternative. Using a 1.5 MHz FFT phase-detection system (mean RSD 80% of the signal; density varied by less than 0.002 g/cm³ across all conditions. SDS-PAGE revealed preferential depletion of α- and β-caseins (31.5%, 33.0%, and 25.1% retention at 0%, 0.4%, and 0.8% LBG respectively) while κ-casein remained near-intact (~103%), consistent with selective inter-chain cross-linking. CLSM and laser diffraction confirmed a three-stage aggregation progression. The method reduces testing time by 96% and establishes a thermodynamic framework for rapid, non-destructive quality monitoring of thermally processed protein beverages.