1.

Indigenous milk product;

India is multi religious country several festivals are celebrated round the year.
Hence many times during this festivals or at the happy movement sweets are always
offered to the relatives, friends, neighbourhood and those whom they known very well.
Not only due to festivals or due to happy moment s sweets are distributed among the
people, but round the year, they purchase sweet to consume, they have occupied the
permanent place in their heart due to characteristic taste, flavour, body and texture of
this popular sweetmeat. Round the year various occasion always happen such as
passing exam, child birth, new house, new job, marriage ceremony, birthday, promotion
etc, hence by keeping in mind such scope and opportunity to the indigenous dairy
products sweetmeat makers (halwais) prepare various delicious sweetmeats. As result
about 50 to 55 per cent of milk produced is converting by the traditional sector
(halwais) into variety of Indian milk products (Patil 2002 and Gupta 2007).

India’s traditional dairy product sector is poised for rapid expansion with the
result of modern process technologies in the production of mithais. The rising demand
for packaged, fresh dairy products is widening the base of the modern dairy sector.
There is a long list of milk-based sweets prepared by combining one or more
indigenous products with certain non-dairy ingredients. They are value added products
generating high profits. Their demand is influenced by the nutritional value and taste.
(Aneja et al. 2002).

2. Basundi;

Basundi is one of the traditional dairy products. No references yet available

regarding the exact origin of basundi, but it have been prepared over several centuries
in the western and southern parts of India. The product has a relatively thick creamy
consistency, white to light brown color, sweetish caramel aroma and soft textured flakes
uniformly distributed throughout the product mass. (Aneja et al. 2002).

Basundi is a traditional dairy delicacy popular in western part of India mainly

Maharashtra and Gujarat and few parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Conventionally, it is prepared by partial desiccation of milk in a karahi or steam
jacketed kettle until a required consistency is reached. The sugar is added at the later
stage of concentration which serves as a preservative apart from adding sweetness to
the Basundi. It is characterized by light to medium brown in colour, pleasant caramel
and nutty flavour, creamy consistency and having small sized soft flakes uniformly
distributed thought the body of the product (Pagote 2002).

It has high nutritive and food value owing to the concentration of milk to 2 -2.5
fold and presence of sugar at high level. Sugar serves as a preservative apart from
adding to the rich taste of Basundi.

Total annual production of Basundi during 1996 was estimated to be 25000

tonnes and was mainly confined to cottage scale in non-organized sector. Now-a-days,
the popularity and demand of Basundi is increasing due to its delicacy. Hence its
production and marketing is increasing in a few big cities of the country. Recently
organized sector has also been reported to enter the Basundi market. (Aneja, 1997).

Since, Basundi is an emerging traditional milk delicacy in Indian market,

considerable attention has been received by the researchers during last few years.
Market survey was conducted in three cities of Gujarat (Patel and Upadhyay 2001)
and one city of Karnataka i.e. in Bangalore (Dharaiya 2006) regarding chemical
composition and organoleptic quality of Basundi sold by different halwais’ shops and
restaurants. Recently, a traditional method of Basundi making has standardized and an
appropriate technology has been developed to obtain most desirable organoleptic and
physico-chemical characteristics for Basundi (Pagote 2005). Traditional process has
also been upgraded for medium and large scale production of Basundi by dairy
industriy (Pagote 2005a). Attempt has been made to increase the shelf life of Basundi
through retort processing (Raghavendra and Pagote 2006), But, so far, no work has
been conducted for the replacement of sugar in Basundi.

Basundi is defined as a preparation of boiled and sugared milk (cow or buffalo),

used mostly in western parts and southern parts of India. The Indian Dairy Federation
defined the product as a confectionary based on concentrated milk. Basundi has
appearance like condensed milk with flakes that is thin flakes in thick fluid. It has a
light brown colour, smooth consistency with presence of very minute suspended flakes
resembling that of plain condensed milk that having pleasant, cooked, nutty flavour
(Pandya, 2006).

2.1 Table-1 Chemical composition of basundi;

 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION % (RANGE)
TS 37.37-56.98
FAT 6.00-19.00
PROTEIN 4.06-9.47
LACTOSE 3.77-11.43
SUCROSE 15.25-21.50
ASH 0.90-1.75
ACIDITY 0.24-0.52
pH 5.88-6.76
(source: )

3. Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis);

Aloe vera is a perennial, drought-resisting, succulent plant belonging to the

Asphodelaceae family. The name, aloe, is derived from the Arabic "alloeh" or Hebrew
"halal" meaning bitter shiny substance. It has a vast traditional role in indigenous
system of medicine like ayurveda, siddha, Unani and homoeopathy. Aloe barbadensis
miller or Aloe vera, a semi tropical plant is one of the 250 species of Aloe. Most
commonly used for its medicinal properties, Aloe Vera or the Sanskrit name "Ghee
kunwar" is a member of Lilly family. The plant has lance-shaped, sharp pointed, and
jagged & edged leaves. Aloe vera is found as the wild herb along the coast of south
India. It is under cultivation in fairly large areas in many parts of India viz; Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat, Maharashtra etc. Aloes are often thought to only grow in hot and dry climates
but they actually grow in a variety of climates including desert, grassland, and coastal
or even alpine locations. There are more than 200 compounds found in Aloe
barbadensis, about 75 of which have biological activity, Aloe vera leaves contain a
diverse array of compounds, including anthraquinones (e.g. aloe-emodin), anthrones
and their glycosides (e.g. 10-(1, 5’ anhydroglucosyl)-aloeemodin- 9-anthrone, also
known as aloin A and B), chromones, carbohydrates, proteins, glycoproteins, amino
acids, organic acids, lipids, sugars, vitamins and minerals. Aloe vera has number of uses
and mainly they are used as a food preservative and medicine. Commercially, aloe can
be found in pills, sprays, ointments, lotions, liquids, drinks, jellies, and creams.
Numerous aloe species around the world are used for conditions ranging from
dermatitis to cancer. Various studies have revealed that Aloe vera leaf possesses many
pharmaceutical activities, including antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic,
antiulcer, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory and many more activities. Many of the
health benefits associated with Aloe vera have been attributed to the polysaccharides
contained in the gel of the leaves. (Manvitha and Bidya, 2014).

3.1 Table-2 Chemical composition of Aloe vera;

Chemical characterization of gel of Aloe vera

Parameters (g. 100 g-1 fresh gel)
Moisture 98.93 ± 0.06
Protein 0.12 ± 0.01
Fat 0.01 ± 0.02
Crude fibre 0.12 ± 1.20
Ash 0.16 ± 0.02
Available carbohydrates* 0.66
-- --
Energy (Kcal.g-1 sample) 5.84
aw2 0.99 ± 0.01
pH2 4.74 ± 0.01
Acidity (% malic acid) 0.06 ± 0.02
Glucose3 25.20 ± 0.06
Fructose3 9.30 ± 0.01

Table-2 shows the mean values and standard deviation for the chemical
characteristics of the fresh aloe vera gel, which include proximate composition, sugar
content, and quality parameters. The aloe vera gel analyzed presented a higher value for
moisture content compared to that reported by Femenia et al. (1999). The pH and
titrimetric acidity values were similar to the results reported in previous studies
(ESHUN; HE, 2004; HERNÁNDEZ et al., 2006; MIRANDA et al., 2009). In addition,
the aloe vera gel showed water activity (aw) greater than 0.98, which means that the gel
is very susceptible to attack of molds, and yields (MIRANDA et al., 2009). Regarding
proteins, lipids and crude fibre, the contents were similar to those reported by Miranda
et al. (2009). The ash content showed similar values to those reported by Boudreau and
Beland (2006).

Table-2 also shows the contents of two of the main sugars present in the gel, namely
fructose and glucose (9.3 and 25.2 g/100 g dry matter, respectively). The concentration
of free glucose was higher than the concentration of free fructose, which was also
reported by Bozzi et al. (2007) for glucose and fructose in the commercial aloe vera
powders with respective values of 11.85 and 5.3 g/100 g dry matter. Femenia et al.
(1999) also determined higher glucose content compared to fructose; they found 26.7 g
glucose/100 g dry matter in aloe vera gel compared to 0.64 g fructose/100 g dry matter.

3.2 Health benefit of Aloe vera;

Five Unique benefits of Aloe vera to the body -

i. Penetration – aloe has the ability to reach deepest body tissues some 7 layers
deep
ii. Antiseptic – aloe has at least 6 antiseptic agents which kill bacteria, viruses and
fungi
iii. Stimulates cell growth – aloe stimulates the birth of new healthy tissue
iv. Settles nerves – aloe has a clearing effect on the body’s nervous system
v. Cleanses – aloe detoxifies and normalizes the body’s metabolism.

4. Betel leaves (piper betle);

The deep green heart shaped leaves of betel vine are popularly known as Paan in
India. It is also known as Nagaballi, Nagurvel, Saptaseera, Sompatra, Tamalapaku,
Tambul, Tambuli, Vaksha Patra, Vettilai, Voojangalata etc in different parts of the
country (CSIR 1969; Guha and Jain 1997). The scientific name of betel vine is Piper
betle L. It belongs to the family Piperaceae, i.e. the Black Pepper family (Gunther,
1952). The vine is a dioecious (male and female plants are different), shade loving
perennial root climber. There are about 100 varieties of betel vine in the world, of
which about 40 are found in India and 30 in West Bengal (Guha 1997; Maity 1989;
Samanta 1994). The most probable place of origin of betel vine is Malaysia
(Chattopadhyay and Maity 1967). In spite of its alienness, the plant is much more
popular in India than in any other country of the world since the antiquity. This would
be evident from the numerous citations laid down in the ancient literature, particularly
the Indian scriptures. In these citations, significance of the leaves has been explained in
relation to every sphere of human life including social, cultural, religious and even day-
to-day life, which is very much relevant even these days. For example, a well-prepared
betel quid is still regarded as an excellent mouth freshener and mild vitalizer, routinely
served on the social, cultural and religious occasions like marriage, Puja (religious
festivals), Sraddha ceremony (religious function performed after cremation) etc. It is
also used as a special item offered to the guests in order to show respect and for such
traditional use of betel leaf in the Indian society, the leaf really stands alone without any
parallel even today (Guha 1997; Mehrotra 1981). In fact, this edible leaf has achieved
an esteemed position in the human society right from the dawn of civilization,
particularly in the countries like Bangladesh, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Nepal, Pakistan, Phili- ppines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc. (Jana 1996;
Khoshoo 1981; Samanta 1994; Sharma et al. 1996), where leaves are tradi- tionally
used for chewing in their natural raw condition along with many other ingredients like
sliced areca nut, slaked lime, coriander, aniseed, clove, cardamom, sweetener, coconut
scrapings, ashes of diamond, pearl, gold and silver (Ayurvedic preparations), jelly,
pepper mint, flavouring agent, fruit pulp etc. (CSIR 1969).

4.1 Medicinal and nutritive value of betel leaf;

Betel leaf is traditionally known to be useful for the treatment of various

diseases like bad breath, boils and abscesses, conjunctivitis, constipation, headache,
hysteria, itches, mastitis, mastoiditis, leucorrhoea, otorrhoea, ringworm, swelling of
gum, rheumatism, abrasion, cuts and injuries etc. as folk medicine while the root is
known for it’s female contraceptive effects (Chopra et al., 1956; Khanra 1997).
Further, the essential oil contained in the leaves possesses antibacterial, antiprotozoan
and antifungal properties. Therefore, the oil kills or inhibits growth of dreadful bacteria
causing typhoid, cholera, tuberculosis etc that needs proper evaluation and exploitation
(CSIR 1969). Not only that, the betel leaves really do not have any match as a cheap,
natural and easily available appetizer, digestive, mild stimulant, aphrodisiac and
refreshing mastication. Chewing of betel leaves produce a sense of well-being,
increased alertness, sweating, salivation, hot sensation and energetic feeling with
exhilaration. It also increases the capacity to exercise physical and mental functions
more efficiently for a longer duration but it may produce a kind of psychoactive effect
causing a condition of mild addiction leading to habituation and withdrawal symptoms
(Chu 2001; Garg and Jain 1996). Further, the leaves are very nutritive and contain
substantial amount of vitamins and minerals and therefore, six leaves with a little bit of
slaked lime is said to be comparable to about 300 ml of cow milk particularly for the
vitamin and mineral nutrition. The leaves also contain the enzymes like diastase and
catalase besides a significant amount of all the essential amino acids except lysine,
histidine and arginine, which are found only in traces (CSIR 1969; Gopalan 1984;
Guha and Jain 1997). However, relevant data from a complete biochemical analysis is
not available from any single source. Consequently, the analytical values from two or
more reports may reveal a very wide or even contradictory trend. Therefore, research
work in this direction becomes inevitable.

4.2 Table-3 Nutritional composition of fresh betel leaf;

Srl. Constituents Approximate

no. composition
1. Water 85-90%
2. Protein 3-3.5%
3. Fat 0.4-1.0%
4. Minerals 2.3-3.3%
5. Fibre 2.3%
6. Chlorophyll 0.01-0.25%
7. Carbohydrate 0.5-6.10%
8. Nicotinic acid 0.63-0.89 mg/100g
9. Vitamin C 0.005-0.01%
10. Vitamin A 1.9-2.9 mg/100g
11. Thiamine 10-70 µg/100g
12. Riboflavin 1.9-30 µg/100g
13. Tannin 0.1-1.3%
14. Nitrogen 2.0-7.0%
15. Phosphorus 0.05-0.6%
16. Potassium 1.1-4.6%
17. Calcium 0.2-0.5%
18. Iron 0.005-0.007%
19. Iodine 3.4 µg/100g
20. Essential Oil 0.08 - 0.2%
21. Energy 44 kcal/100 g
Source (CSIR 1969; Gopalan 1984; Guha and Jain 1997)