Utilization of Dairy By-product for the Development of Whey Ice Candy

Background: Whey is by product of dairy industry and contained about 6% milk solids. It may coause environmental problem if not utilized properly.

Aims: The present study aim to utilize whey in the preparation ice candy enriched with fruit pulp.

Methodology: Whey candy mix was prepared by combination of fruit pulp, sugar and stabilizer in clarified paneer whey followed by homogenization, heating and cooling. Mix was poured in mold and passed through contionues blast freezer to harden. Hardened candies were wraped in aluminium foil and stored in deep freezer at - 20 ± 2ºC. The sutability of fruits i.e. kiwi, orange and pineapple in whey based ice candy was determined by organoleptic quality. The level of selected fruit and sugar were optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The optimized product was evaluated for sensory and physico-chemical qualities. Also the storage stability, consumer acceptability and economical feasibilities of the product were tested.

Results: Amongst the three different fruits, the whey candy prepared by using pineapple fruit pulp was recived higest sensory score. The RSM results shows that, increase in pineapple pulp and sugar level resulted in higher sensory score for color and appearance, taste and flavor. Optimized level of pineapple pulp and sugar were 14.23% and 21.80%, respectively. This combination obtained 7.7, 7.6 and 7.65 sensory score for color, flavor and overall acceptability respectively whereas, melting rate was 42.19%. The whey candy subjected to study consumer accapetability and It was found that 58% of the consumers rated experimental candy as excellent (score 5) and 20.5% rated on very good. The whey candy was in acceptable up to 60 days at refrigerated storage condition.