LPT 311: Milk and Milk Products Technology (1+1)

JUDGING OF GHEE

Colour

• Though it is influenced by the method of production, the colour of ghee from cow milk is deep yellow, while ghee from buffalo milk is white with a characteristic yellowish or greenish tinge. When mixed, colour varies accordingly. Also the state of ghee as liquid or solid influences the colour.

Flavour: (smell and taste)

• It is an important characteristic small quantity of ghee is rubbed over the back of palm and smelled by inhaling. A well-prepared sample of ghee has a pleasant, cooked and rich flavour. The taste is usually sweet and characteristic of milk fat, although a slight acidic flavour is preferred.

Texture : (grain and consistency)

• Indian buyers relay on granulation for quality and purity. Granulation of ghee is partly due to glycerides of high melting saturated fatty acids (hard fat - palmitic and stearic etc.,) and thus buffalo ghee crystallizes more effectively than cow ghee. The desi method produces large crystals in ghee compared to direct-cream method. Heating ghee to 60-100^oC and rapid cooling yields small grains in ghee. However if the ghee is kept at 1^oC above the melting point of ghee (cow ghee –29^oC: buffalo ghee – 31^oC) a large number of big graining results. Cold storage of ghee should be avoided, since it leads to loss of granularity and the development of waxy consistency in the stored product.

Packaging

• Non-toxic, non-tainting material with easy availability, economical, resistance to rough handling, suited for printing and capacity to hold desirable volume are preferred.