Potential Use of Herbs in Milk and Milk Products

Abstract

Functional foods contain bioactive compounds, which offer health benefits. These food ingredients basically include vitamins, phytosterols, bioactive peptides, carotenoids, antioxidants, fatty acids, fibers, etc. Several herbaceous plants and extracts of suave and woody vines are considered as herbal medicines that are recognized for their savory and medicinal properties. Several methods have been mentioned in Ayurveda with health benefits, such as application in milk as carriers of these herbs. The major part of the milk in India is used for the preparation of dairy products of traditional origin with a well-established market at the domestic level. Incorporation of herbal bioactives into traditional Indian dairy products not only helps the industry to meet the growing consumer demand for these foods but also facilitates in competing with the ever-increasing world market of functional foods. The research reports confirm the addition of polyphenols (herbs) into milk to improve anti-oxidative activity, thermal stability, and alcohol stability but decreased non-enzymatic browning, rennet coagulation time (RCT), etc. These modifications in milk properties are of utmost importance as these may modify the pre-optimized processing parameters for the preparation of dairy products. This chapter focuses on possible aspects of the incorporation of herbs into milk and different milk products.