CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND STORAGE BEHAVIOUR OF KHOA PREPARED IN CONTINUOUS SCRAPPED SURFACE HEAT EXCHANGER

Khoa prepared in a continuous scrapped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) was evaluated for its chemical composition and changes while storing it at room (28–32°C) as well as refrigerated (8–10°C) temperatures. The khoa prepared by varying steam pressure, feed TS and scrapper speeds contained 29.44–32.89 moisture, 24.30–25.13% fat, 16.50–17.30% protein, 3.31–3.60% ash and 22.71–25.29% lactose. These values differed non significantly from respective values of khoa (control) prepared by traditional method. The machine made khoa exhibited similar deterioration trend with the control during storage. The values revealed that a storage period of 4–5 days at ambient temperature is equivalent to that period of 16–20 days under refrigerated conditions. Sensory score of khoa made by SSHE was in the range of 85.93 to 87.56 which was very close to score (86.32 to 89.24) for control khoa. Khoa prepared by SSHE was found more suitable for some of the sweets like burfi, gulabjamun etc. because of its close texture and cohesive body.