Module.

5 Fermented milk and milk products

Lesson-16
Sensory Evaluation of Shrikhand

16.1. INTRODUCTION
Shrikhand is a semi-solid, sweetish-sour, wholesome, indigenous fermented milk product
of western India. It is prepared by : (a) curdling of milk and/or skim milk using lactic starter
culture to obtain dahi, (b) draining most of the whey from dahi to get chakka; either by
suspending it in muslin cloth bag or by mechanical means such as basket centrifuge or
continuous curd separator, (c) addition of sugar flavouring and/or cream (80% fat) in case of
skim milk chhaka, (d) kneading together manually or in a planetary mixer to obtain
homogeneous consistency, (e) mixing of other additives such as fruits, nuts, colour etc. if desired
and (f) cooling it to a low temperature before (less than 10 °C) it is ready for consumption.

On the basis of organoleptic evaluation, most desirable Shrikhand should have 5-6 %
milk fat, 38-40 % moisture, 40-45 % sugar and 1.0-1.1 % lactic acidity. The flavour of
Shrikhand is greatly influenced by the level of the developed acidity at which curd is converted
to chhaka and chhaka in its turn to shrikhand. The typical consistency of shrikhand is influenced
to a great extent by the moisture, fat and sugar levels in the product. The last two factors also
have an influence on flavour.

16.2. DESIRABLE SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF CHAKKA

16.2.1. Appearance and Colour: Chakka when properly made should be free from any signs of
fat or water seepage or both and moldiness. It shall be white to pale yellow and no extraneous
colour shall be added.
16.2.2. Odour and Flavour: Chakka shall have pleasant yoghurt (dahi) like flavour. It shall be
free from objectionable flavours and odours.
16.2.3. Texture and Consistency: Chakka shall be of good texture and consistency. It shall be
free from coarseness. It should be manufactured and packed in equipment and premises
maintained under hygienic conditions. It shall also be stored and distributed under hygienic
conditions.
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

16.3. DESIRABLE SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF SHRIKHAND

16.3.1. Appearance of the container: Desirably in good condition i. e. it should be properly
sealed with surface showing no soiling.
16.3.2. Product appearance & colour: It shall be free from signs of free fat or syrup separation
or both and uneven colour distribution.
16.3.3. Flavour: It shall have a clean, pleasant, sweetish-sour flavour, representing blend of
added sugar and of fermented milk solids. It should be free from objectionable flavours and
odours.
16.3.4. Texture and consistency: It shall have a typical semi-solid, uniform consistency
showing a characteristic firmness and pliability and shall show smooth texture without any sign
of graininess.
16.3.5. Temperature and acidity of the product: Desirably the product may be consumed or
evaluated at a low temperature of about 10 °C. It shall have optimum acidity around 1.0 -1.1 %
expressed as lactic acid.

16.4. Sequence of evaluation

Preferably in a well-furnished sensory laboratory, trained judges judge shrikhand for its quality.
Usually a panel of 6 -8 persons is selected on the basis of duo-trio test. For preference testing
(involving actual consumers) the panelists may be asked to judge the intensities or to specify in
some way their preferences using the 9-point hedonic scale.

For discriminating testing, highly trained evaluators are provided with score card indicating the
maximum and minimum score for each of the sensory attributes of the product, along with the
suggested score deductions for defective samples is expected to help the judge in proper
organoleptic evaluation. As far as possible not more than six samples should be served at a time
for the evaluation.

Place the shrikhand container on a table or a platform and examine it for the appearance.
Cut open and inhale its aroma, note the surface of the content and the temperature and also
evaluate its colour and appearance.
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

Pick-up a spoonful of the product and allow it to drop back noting its consistency, body, firmness
and falling behavior of the product.
Take the product into the mouth and note it's tactual and taste sensation. Judge the product for its
smoothness and uniformity by swallowing the secondary taste reaction, the taste beyond sweet
and sour, will have been experienced, expectorate the sample and register if an after taste
persists.
In order that the sensory panelists are made aware of the desirable and undesirable characteristics
of shrikhand, they need to be exposed to various types of shrikhand and trained to identity good
quality product.

Training is very vital in the successful adoption of sensory evaluation as an instrument of quality
control. For accurate judging and grading it is necessary that the judge has the awareness of
different defects and their intensities. This would enable him to identify and discriminate against
a defective product.

Some of the common defects observed in shrikhand can be simulated as given below:

16.4.1. Flavour Defects

Cooked: Burnt / cooked flavour can be obtained by overheating milk intended for shrikhand
making.
Salty: If shrikhand is made from 30% total solids (TS) condensed milk, it will give salty taste. It
can also be simulated by adding 0.2% sodium chloride to milk.
Malty: Use malty cream as a fat source with skim milk chhaka or add few drops of malt extract
to the product.
Fruity: Add few drops of dilute ethyl1 butyrate and ethyl1 caproate solutions to the products.
Too sweet: Add sugar at the rate of 120 - 240% weight of chakka.
Lacks sweetness: Add less quantity of sugar i.e. 60-70% by weight of chhaka.
Flat: Prepare shrikhand using only skim milk chhaka without fat, the product will be flat in
flavour.
Too strong / harsh / coarse: Add few drops of diacetyl1 or acetaldehyde to the product and milk
it properly. If any artificial / natural flavouring is added, add it in excess.
High acid / sour: Add few drops of dilute lactic acid solution to shrikhand and mix it well.
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

Fermented: Allow chhaka to develop acidity up to 3 - 3.5% lactic acid this can be accomplished
by introducing lactobacilli in the culture.
Oxidized: Use the oxidized cream as the fat source with skim milk chhaka. Alternatively cream
can be oxidized by adding few drops of 1% copper sulphate solution to pasteurized,
unhomogenized cream and storing it for 24 hours at refrigerated temperature.
Rancid: Homogenize a part of cream (40 % fat) at 32 °C C and allow to stand still until defect
of desired intensity is developed (15 to 30 min) Mix this cream with remaining cream, pasteurize
and use for shrikhand making with skim milk chhaka.
Bitter: Add few drops of dilute (0.08%) quinine hydrochloride solution to the shrikhand while
kneading.
Unnatural: Use sweet cream buttermilk added with 2% skim milk powder for shrikhand
manufacture.
Unclean: Use unclean milk and / or allow the curd to be formed in improperly sterilized
equipment.
Yeasty: Add yeast culture to chakka and store at 20 - 25°C C for few hours.
Mouldy: Leave shrikhand at ambient temperature, in presence of air till mouldy flavour
develops.

16.4.2. Body and Texture Defects

Leaky body / free whey: Prepare low acidity (0.6% lactic acidLA) shrikhand and inoculate it
with lactobacilli species to develop higher acidity. This will give free whey and leaky body in the
product.
Grainy: Add sodium alginate to milk at the rate of 0.2 - 0.3% and use the same milk for
shrikhand making, or alternatively shrikhand made with direct acidification method will also
give graininess.
Weak: Shrikhand made from buttermilk added with 2% skim milk powder will be weak in body.
Rigid / Hard: Chhaka from which excess moisture has been removed.
Gummy / Pasty / Sticky: Use milk added with 0.25-0.30% gelatin or 2-3% starch for
shrikhand making.
Lacks smoothness: Prepare shrikhand from skim milk chakka (i.e. absence of fat) and/or
improper kneading and mixing of shrikhand.
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

16.4.3. Colour and Appearance Defects

Unclean / Lack of uniformity: Improper mixing, kneading and grainy product will not be clean
or uniform in appearance
Mouldy: Same as mouldy flavour. Allow the mould to grow.
Dull: Prepare shrikhand using mixture (50:50) of reconstituted milk and sweet cream butter
milk.
Wet look: Shrikhand made from condensed milk (40 % TS) will have wet look.
Too dark / Too light: This can be obtained using colour. Add excess or fewer colours as the
case may be for required defect.

Package defects
Normally shrikhand is delivered to consumers in their own container. However, few commercial
plants have started packing the product in plastic containers. Accordingly the defects may be
simulated easily by improperly sealing / artificially soiling the container etc.
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

Table-16.2: Suggested score card for shrikhand

Sensory evaluation card for shrikhand
Name : Date : Time
A. Score the sample for different sensory attributes. Indicate the degree of defect and
deduct accordingly from the attribute score.
Attribute Maximum Score Minimum Sample No.
Score
1 2 3 4 5
Package 05 03
Colour & appearance 15 09
Body & texture 30 18
Flavour 50 30
Total 100 60

Table-16.3: Suggested score deductions for shrikhand

Suggested score deductions for shrikhand having different intensities of defects :
Attribute Defect Intensity of defect
Slight Definite Pronounced
Package Soiled surface / improperly scaled 01 02 03
Colour and Unclean / mouldy / dull 02 05 10
appearance Wet look / too dark 01 03 05
Too light / dull 01 03 05
Body and Leaky / free whey 03 05 08
texture Grainy 04 07 12
Weak / hard 03 06 09
Gummy / pasty / sticky 03 07 11
Lack of smoothness 03 06 09
Flavour Cooked / unclean 02 04 06
Salty / malty / fruity 03 07 10
Too sweet / lacks sweetness 04 08 12
Flat 04 08 12
Too strong / harsh / coarse 05 10 15
High acid / sour / fermented 05 10 15
Oxidized / rancid 05 10 15
Bitter / unnatural 05 10 15
Yeasty & mouldy 06 12 15
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

For computing the final score - total for all attributes, the products may be assigned a
suitable grade as shown below:

Table-16.4: Grading of shrikhand

Score Quality of shrikhand Grade

90 or more Excellent A
80 - 89 Good B
60 - 79 Fair C
59 or less Poor D
 Sensory evaluation of shrikhand

Questions
1. Total score of A-grade shrikhand is
A. 90 and above
B. 80 to89
C. 60 to79
D. 59 and below
2. Good quality shrikhand has acidity (% lactic acid) of
A. 1.4 and above
B. 0.90 to1.1
C. 0.60 to0.8
D. 0.6 and below
3. Shrikhand made from condensed milk (40% TS) has the following defect
A. Wet look
B. Too dark
C. Dull
D. Mouldy
4. Contamination in dahi may induce
A. Cooked flavour
B. Oxidised flavour
C. Fruity flavour
D. Burnt flavour
5. Most desirable shrikhand has sugar content
A. 20-25 %
B. 30-35 %
C. 40-45 %
D. 50-55 %