Abstract:
Dairy industries have high demand for the products that meet consumer's demand for a healthy lifestyle. Currently the interest and use of Aloe vera pulp as a functional ingredient has increased tremendously. In this backdrop, present study was carried out to develop a novel herbal pasteurized milk drink through the investigation of its organoleptic properties and shelf life for commercialization to satisfy the needs of health-conscious consumers. The product was developed by incorporating 5% of A. vera pulp, different levels of sugar (3 – 9%), pH (3.00 – 4.50) levels and flavors according to the consumer preferences. The organoleptic properties of final product such as appearance, flavor, aroma, texture/ mouthfeel, overall-taste, overall-acceptability and consumer acceptance were observed once in 7 days. Microbial parameters such as aerobic plate count, coliform count and physicochemical parameters such as pH, total solids, total soluble solids and discoloration were examined every 5 days interval to evaluate the safety and keeping quality of the product. The data obtained were analyzed statistically. A. vera incorporated pasteurized herbal milk drink was accepted by the sensory panelists. All sensorial attributes tested in the formulated product during the storage period scored above 7 in 9-point hedonic scale which revealed that the product was towards the “extremely-like” category. There was no significant difference in all analyzed parameters during the storage period of 14 days and matched with the Sri Lankan standard for milk added pasteurized drink. So, the study led to the conclusion that the A. vera incorporated herbal milk drink possessed good overall acceptability and physiochemical quality with the shelf life of 14 days.
