Development of a process for manufacture of long-life dairy dessert kheer and its physicochemical properties

Kheer, a traditional milk product of South-east Asia, containing cooked rice grains in a creamy sweetened concentrated milk, has no large-scale production owing to its poor shelf-life. Shelf-life was improved by developing a process based on in-pouch thermal processing employing a rotary retort. Product development included optimisation of rice/milk solids ratio (0.18-0.52) and total milk solids levels (16-26%) to simulate the conventional product in taste, appearance and textural attributes. Various process lethality values (F-o = 12.4-14.8) were examined with regard to product quality. While the thiobarbituric acid value tended to increase (0.073-0.081), the reflectance value (35.3-43.4) declined with increasing F-o. The pH of the product (6.04-6.10) showed a slight tendency to increase with F-o. Sensorily, the product was found to be acceptable for a period of 150 days at 37 degrees C.