Sensory Evaluation of Rabri Prepared from Cow Milk as Affected by Various Sugar Levels and Storage Periods

Abstract

Rabri is a traditional heat-desiccated dairy product prepared by concentrating milk and incorporating successive layers of clotted cream formed during slow heating. The present investigation was conducted in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (Dairy Technology), C.S.A. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, to evaluate the influence of milk fat level, sugar level and refrigerated storage period on the sensory quality of rabri prepared from cow milk. Milk was standardised to two fat levels, 4.0% (A1) and 4.5% (A2), and rabri was prepared with four sugar levels, namely 2% (B1), 4% (B2), 6% (B3) and 8% (B4). The samples were packed in plastic cups and stored at 5 ± 1°C for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 days. Sensory attributes, including flavour, body and texture, colour and appearance, sweetness and overall acceptability, were evaluated by a five-member panel using a 9-point hedonic scale. The experiment included 48 treatment combinations with three replications under a factorial completely randomised design, and the data were analysed using analysis of variance. Rabri prepared from milk containing 4.5% fat recorded higher mean scores than that prepared from milk containing 4.0% fat for flavour (7.513), body and texture (7.386), colour and appearance (7.409), sweetness (7.379) and overall acceptability (7.412). Among the sugar treatments, 2% sugar gave the highest mean scores for all sensory attributes. Fresh rabri obtained the highest acceptability, while all sensory scores declined progressively during storage, with the lowest overall acceptability score observed on day 25 (5.704). Overall, rabri prepared with 4.5% fat and 2% sugar showed the most acceptable sensory quality under refrigerated storage conditions.