Preparation and Comparative Evaluation of LP Treated Shelf-life Enhanced (SLE) Khoa and Fresh Milk Khoa

Abstract

The Konkan tract of Maharashtra is small narrow strip of about 700 km length with average breadth of 30-35 km. This tract is embodied with Arabian Sea towards west and ranges of Sahyadri Mountain towards east. This region is well known for typical hot- humid climate for about 8 to 9 months of the year. Dairy industry is setting its foot hold in this region. However, problems like accessibility to market, lack of cold storage facilities are poised as hurdles in maintaining milk quality. The hot humid climate coupled with frequent electricity failures and negligence for quality aggravates this problem further. Although during this study Attempts were made to boost this natural system by addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and thiocyanate. This method got tremendous success and is recommended by SAARC for rural hilly areas. The lacto peroxidase(LP) system, when properly applied, is harmless to the mammalian cells. Similarly, considerable work is carried out on utilization of such LP treated milk for preparation of various milk products. Present research work is therefore, aimed at exploring the possibility of LP treated shelf-life enhanced (SLE) milk for preparation of indigenous desiccated milk product like khoa with main objectives ofexploring the possibility of preparing khoa from LP treated shelf-life enhanced (SLE)milk, to study the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory parameters of khoa prepared from LP treated SLE milk and to compare them with khoa prepared from fresh wholemilk, to Study the shelf-life of khoa prepared from LP treated SLE milk and fresh whole milk at storage temperature of 24±1°C, to work out the cost ofproduction.