Structural properties of crumpled cream layers

The cream layer is a complex heterogeneous material of biological origin which forms spontaneously at the air-milk interface. Here, the crumpling of a single cream layer packing under its own weight at room temperature in a three-dimensional space is studied. The structure obtained in these circumstances has a low volume fraction and anomalous fractal dimensions. Direct means and noninvasive NMR imaging techniques are used to investigate the internal and the external structures of these systems.