Vol. 12, Issue 4 (2023)

Author(s):
Ankit Deep, Manos Sarkar, Writdhama Prasad and Kaushik Khamrui

Abstract:
Ghee, a form of heat clarified butterfat, is one among the principal indigenous dairy products consumed in India because of its unique pleasing flavour. About 30% of the total milk produced in India is converted into ghee by different methods viz., indigenous (desi), direct cream, creamery butter and pre stratification method. Further, ghee prepared from fermented cream (or fermented white butter) is more preferred as compared to fresh cream (or white butter) because of the volatiles generated as a result of starter propagation. Most of the Indian dairy industries use white butter as a raw material for ghee making and often employs pre-stratification method. However, direct cream method is most commonly employed for ghee preparation from fermented cream. Ghee preparation from fermented requires fermentation of fresh cream using lactic starters to ferment the cream and develop the acidity to desired level. This is followed by heat clarification of the contents to obtain ghee. The present work was undertaken with an objective to compare the ghee (clarified butter fat) obtained using different methods for physico-chemical attributes and energy requirement during their preparation. Ghee obtained using all the employed methods complied with the FSSR (2022) requirements for moisture and free fatty acids content. Sensory evaluation revealed that ghee obtained using creamery butter method was most preferred, followed by pre-stratification method and direct cream method. Energy determination study revealed that highest amount of energy was required for ghee preparation using direct cream method followed by creamery butter method and least was by pre-stratification method.