Properties of sweetened milk fortified with dietary fibers

Abstract

Having wide-ranging beneficial effects on human health, dietary fiber (DF) has come to be recognized as an important ingredient of health foods. In the present study, 5 different mix comprising of commercially available DF sources viz. microcrystalline cellulose (Vitacel MCC-105), oat fiber (Vitacel HF-600), psyllium husk and inulin (Raftiline ST) were incorporated into milk (DF ranging from 1.47 to 5.7%) and their effect on the properties determining the acceptability of sweetened milk was evaluated. All the test samples showed acceptable flavor. Statistically, appearance (both unstirred/undisturbed and stirred) and consistency was highly affected by the level of DF (P, 0.022 < alpha 0.05), with change in the concentration and type of DF. Due to the increase in viscosity of milk with the addition of psyllium husk at 0.5% level, the consistency score decreased. The change in the instrumental viscosity was statistically significant (P, 6.88E-07 < alpha 0.05). The alcohol index indicating the heat stability of the milk improved enormously with the addition of DF blends (>88).