Iron fortification in kulfi

Abstract

Kulfi was prepared from milk standardized to 2% fat and 9% MSNF. Iron fortified kulfi formulated to contain 30 ppm iron from external added iron salts (based on the approximate iron content and bioavailability of different sources of iron) was prepared using six iron salts viz., Ferrous gluconate (FG), Iron reduced (IR), Ferric chloride (FC), Ferric pyrophosphate (FP), Ammonium ferric citrate (FA) and Ferrous sulphate (FS). The experiment samples were compared with control (C). Fortification of kulfi with FA and FC did not significantly (P>0.05) affect the acidity, viscosity and meltdown time of the samples. From amongst the six types of iron sources only FA was found to be acceptable. The effect of level of addition of FA at different levels viz. 15, 30, 40 and 50 was studied. It was found that addition of iron at the highest level i.e. 50 ppm resulted in significant reduction in overall acceptability of the resultant product. In shelf life studies, it was found that fortification of iron @ 40 ppm resulted in significant reduction in flavour and overall acceptability scores after 30 days of storage whereas iron fortified samples @ 30 ppm remained acceptable up to 90 days of storage. Hence, it can be concluded that acceptable quality iron fortified kulfi can be prepared by addition of ferric ammonium citrate (30 ppm available iron) just before freezing of kulfi mix is acceptable up to 90 days at -18±2 °C.