Indian /. Dairy Sci., 30, 4, 1977, pp.

325-330

PRODUCTION AND STORAGE OF DRIED KHOA

A.A. PATEL and SUKUMAR DE
National Dairy Research Institute, Kamal
Received on 31 August. 1976

INTRODUCTION

and khunti (stirrer, flattened at one end). pre,

ferably of Hindalium (aluminium alloy).

Khoa 01' Mawa is an important Indian

IndiRenous milk product. which is obtained by
boiling ,HId partial dehydration of whole milk.
It is used as a base and filler for preparation
of various milk-sweets throughout the country.

Raw buffalo milk, from the

Institute herd, 5 to 18 hr old and at 3-5C,
was used for khoa-making; its pH was 67 to
6'S (T.A. 014 to 0'15%). fat 6'5 to 709% and
SNP 88 to 97 %. The milk was standardized to 5 % fat for final trials. (However,
standardized milks of 4, 5 and 6 % fat were
used for preliminary trials).

(b)

Khoa has a low keeping quality. Rudreshappa and'De (1971) observed a normal storage
life of kh.M at 37 1C to' be less than 7 days,
Which could be increased to 14-21 days by packinR at 80-9G'C. Attempts by these workers
to enhance its storage life by addition of preservativs or anti-oxidants did n(lt succeed.
Oy ri ng of khoa is expected to su bstantiatly
extendi!.s shelf-life. But so far no efforts
have been made in this direction. This
work wa~, therefore, carried out to standardize
1:he method of production of khoa powder with
the object of increasing its keeping quality and
.~ducingthe cost of packaging and transportMion.

Milk.'

(e) Khoa-pat and khoa-concentratt> .- (i) Khoa.

pat-It was made hy adopting the standardized
method of De and Ray (1952), but taking 7
to 8 litres of milk at a time in the above kettle,
(Ii) Khoa-concentrate-It was made on above
lines but the dehydration of milk was stopped
as soon as complete heat-coagulation of milkproteins occurred (usually at 3: 1 concentration of milk).
(d) Slurry: The Khoa-pat or Khoa-concentrate was transferred to a milk-can and calculated amount of water added so as to give in
the mixture 16-18 % T.S. for roller drying .and
27-32% T.S. for spray drying. The mixture
was gradually heated to 60C and stirred well
with the plunger. It was then passed through
a micropulverizer to obtain a smooth slurry.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

(a) Equipments.' (i) Stainless steel steamJacketed kettle, (if) Stirrer-cum-scraper, (iii)
"Milk-can, (iv) Plunger, (~) Micro-pulverizer,
'vi) .ijomogenizer, (vii) Drum drier (Richard
S)mon)~Double drum, each drum of length
46 em (1 &'). and diam. 46 em (IS"); rpm 17 to
19; stearn pressure (inside drum) 50~5 psi;
water I';vaporating cap. 45 kg (10.0. Ib)/hr,
(viii) SprM drier (Anhydro)~Water evapora1ing cap. 35 kg/hr; inlet air temp. 200.-1 SOC;
.outlet air temp. 95-1:5'C; disc atomizer speed
18,0.00.";"2,000 rpm, (ix) Karahi (small open-pan)

(e) Drying: (i) Drum drying~The prepared

slurry (with frequent agitation) was continuously fed by gravity to the feeding trough for
drying by the standard method and (ii) Spray
drying-The prepared slurry was dried by the
standard method.

(f) Collection and packaging : The dried

khoa was collected, ground if requircll, sieved,
I

Dried Khoa

and air-packed and sealed in polythene bags

(200 g net weight) or gas-packed using nitrogen
in tin-cans .(100 g net weight) for further use or
storage st~dies.

(g) Storage studies." The drum-dried khoa

prepared. by the stndardized technique during
the final trials was kept at room temperature
. (160 to ,lO"q and 37 1C for determining its
shelf-life.
(h) Preparation of pedo ." (I) Control-From
freshly made khoa (out of the same standardized milk from which dried kboa was
. made), peda was prepared as prescribed by
Gill and De (1974), and (ii) ExperimentalThe dried .khoa, sugar (preferably ground) and
water were taken in tbe proportion 2 : 1 : 1
(by weight). The water was taken in the
karahi and heated to 40-45C on a low fire .
Then s.ugar was gradually added accom
panied by stirring with the khunti till it was
compleiely dissolved. Dried khoa was now
slowly added to the warm sugar syrup and
mixed thoroughly into it by working the stirrer.
Now the .beat was increased and the pan-con
tents were worked up and down with the
stirrer till the finished product attained desired
consistency. The pan with its contents was
then removed from the fire and the peda on
partial cooling transferred on to a dry dish for
further cooling and cutting into small pieces for
judging.
(i) Judging." Samples of dried khoa and
pedas made from control and dried khoa were
given to a judging panel consisting of 5 to
7 experienced staff members of the Dairy Tech
nology Division for their sensory evaluation.
The dried khoa samples were evaluated for
their colour, (exture and flavour on the following 10 \?oint scale : Excellent 9 to 10; Good 7
to g ;I:'air S. to 6; Poor 4 to 3. The pedas
were scor~d for their acceptability . on the
foHowing 9-pointscale : Liked extremely-9 ;
liked very much8; liked moderatelY-7; liked
siigiltiy.6; neither liked nor disliked-5 ; disliked

slightly-4; disliked moderately-3; disliked very

much-2; disliked extremely-I.
(j) Sampling and anolysjs: Sampling: Milk
as in JS-1961; khoa-pat as for cheese (IS-1 964}i.
khoa-concentrate and slurry, <lfter thorough
mixing while warm; dried khoa as fOJ:
milk powder (IS- 1967). (ii) AnalysiS-milk:
It was analysed for fat by Gerber method (IS1958); total solids using Mojonnicr equipment
as in Lab. Manual (1959); pH by standard,
method and titratable acidity as in. 1801960;
Khoa-pat, khoa-concentrate, slurry and dried
khoa: They were estimated for fat and total
solids (moisture) using Mojonnier equip"
ment . is as described in Lab. Manual (1959)
'
.
proteID by McKenzie-Wallace modified microKjeldahl method (i970); ash as in ISI967;
lactose by difference; and free fat as in Hall and '
Hedrick (1971).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The following studies were made : (a)
Standardization of the method of prodpction of
dried khoa; (b) Physico-chemical quality gi'
dried khoa; (c) Storage-life of dried kl1oa.

(a) Standardizatjon of tire methoti of prQdllction of dried khoa ." In this study, the
effect of the following factors on the physical
quality of the dried product was observed:
(i) Method of drying, (ii) Fat level in milk, (iii)
Homogenization of milk and (tv) Pre-drying
heat exposure. The results have beenprescnted
in Tables I to 4, representing the average cif
a minimum of 4 trials each.
Method of drying." Two methods, viz., . drum
and spray were tried. The results a re given
in Table J.
It i.o; observed from Table 1 that drum-dried
khoa had a brownish white colour, fairly uniform texture, definite cooked smell, slight sweet
taste Bnd was suitable for making peda, The
peda showed only slight gumminess (as compared to control peda). On the other hand,
spray-dried khoa had a chalky white colou.T,

A.A. Patel and Sukumar De

TABtE 1

Effect of 1M method

.r drying oa tile p\ysical qaallty of dried lhol.

Physical quality of dried khoa

Method of
drying
Colour

Sliitability
for

Flavour

Texture

p~da-makin,l

Drum

Brownish white

Fairly uniform

Definite cooked
smell; slight
sweet taste

Suitable

Slight gumminess
lop.all

Spray

Chalky white

Lumpy

Slight cooked
smell; slight
.weel taste

Unsuitable

Pronounced
JIIIlIllliness in pedll

TABLE 1
ElI'ect of fat level in JlliIk on the quality of dried khca.
Physical quality of dried khoa

Milk

Remarks

Snitabifity

fa1 ~~

'Colour

Text\lIl)

Flavour

for
peda-makina

..

Brownish
white
-do-

Fairly uniform
-do-

Definite cooked
smeU; ,ligbt
cooked taste
-do-

Suitable

Slight lilt leakage durins

peda-making; flat flavour
in peda

-do-

Dclinite fat lealcallc

during pella-making;
pleasant rich flavour In

peda
6

-do-

Un-uniform

-do-

Unsuitable

Pronounced fat loakage

duringpeda-maklna: oily
flavour in peda

TABLE 3
ElI'ed of homogeulzatlon of milk OD the quality of dried IoIboa.
Pbysical quality of dried khea
Type of
m ilk
Colour

UnhomO"

Lisht

geoized

brownish
white

Homage.,
nize4

-do-

Texture

Flavour

Fairly
uniform

Definite cooked
smell; slight
cooked ta ste

-do-

-do-

Suitability
for
peda-making

Free fat
or total
fat) in dried
khoa

(X

Remarks

Suitable

77-7

Dclinite fat l~
kage during
peda-malcing

-do-

5S'S

Less than
above

Dried Khoa

TABLE 4
Meet of ,redrylDg beal-OJ:posure .,. tit_ quality of dried kho&Physical quality of dried kho.

$t"gc in

Suita.bitity

, khQa-making
Colour

Kboa-COScelluale

Light

brownish

Texture

Fairly
unifOrm

white

KIula-pal

Brownish

Flavour

Definite cooked
smell; slight
sweet taste

-d<>-

white

lumpy texture, slight cooked smell, slight

8weettaste and was unsuitable for makingpeda.
T)le peda.also exhibi ted pronounced gumminess.
Therefore, drum drying was adopted for
further trials.

F.alleve/ in milk: Three fat levels, Jliz., 4, 5,

am!. 6 % in the (unhomogenized) milk were
tried. The results are prellented in Table 2.

.It is seen from Table 2 that 4 %milk produced 'l;irownish white colour, fairly uniform texture,
defmjte cooked smell and slight cooked taste
iii fhe dried khoa, which was suitable for pedamaking. During the process of preparation
of'peda there was only slight fat leakage, and
t,/le ,petla was characterized by a fiat flavour,
The. 5 % milk gave similar colour, texture and
flavour in the dried product, which was also
suitable for peda making. During the preparati(ill of peda there was definite fat leakage, and
the peda had a pleasant ricb flavour. The 6 %
Jp.ilk gave similar colour and flavour (as the
other two milks) but an un-uniform tex.ture in
tbedried khoa. During the preparation of
peda there was pronounced fat leakage, and the
pt"da,had an undesirable oily flavour. (Under
the condition of drying adopted difficulty was
observed in obtaining a satisfactory film on the
drum surface when 6 % milk was used, while

-do-

Remark.

for
peda-making

Suitable

Nonnal cOlou~

in peda

-do-

Darker cololl!'

inpe""

such was not the case with 4 and 5 % milkS).

ConSidering the super.ior flavour of peda
obtained from 5 % milk, it was used in furtlie't
trials,

Homogenization of milk: The homogenized

milk was compared with unbomogenized iil!lk
and the results are given 1n Table 3.
It will be observed from Table 3 that homo"
genization of milk for khoamaking did i).of
have 8ignificant effect either on the physiCjit .
quality of the dried khoa or on its suita ~i1iiy
for peda-making. However, homogenlzllti6n,
did have a significant effect on the free fat
content of the dried product, which was re"
duced by about 25 %; this in turn resulted, iIi!
decreased fat leakage during peda-making (UIid
was also expected to delay oxidizedflayout
development in the dried khoa during storage)

Predrying heat-exposure,' Two stages in khoa

making were selected, which were marked
by significant difference in heat exposure.

:the

first stage with "Jess" heat-exposure waswheh

complete heat-coagulation of the milk.prOJ~i!l!>
had occurred and this has been termcdichoa;'
concentrate; while the second stage with "mOJ;e"
heat-exposure was the normal khoa-pat stagec.
The rellults are given in Table 4.

A.A. Patel and Sukumar De

both in dried khoa and peda, the "khoa-concentrate" stage was selected for final trials,
(b) Physico-chemical quality of dried khoa:
Using 5 %fat standardized and homogenized
buffalo milk, khoa was made upto the
'concentrate' stage and then drum dried
by the standard technique, The
average
results of 5 trials showed the _following physico-chemical quality of the dried product.
(i) Physical quality-This is shown in
Table 5,

Table 4 shows that while both "lehoa-con-qelltrate" <lend "khoa-pat" gave similar dried
pf.oducts with rcspect to texture and flavour,
1h:il- colour was light brownish-white with the
(o:rmer and brownish-willte with the lattcr;
'i\.tther the dried product from the former
;tel/olted in peda having normal colour (comp.nred with control) whereas the dried product
from the latter gave peda with darker colour,
iJJher characteristics remaining same in both,
For reasonS of superior colour characteristics

TABLE 5
PhysiClll """Uty of dried Irboo,

----~---------------------------------------------------T."ture

Co lour

Suitability
for

FL."otir

Remarks

ped~-making

----

~-- '- -- -- -

GDod

Good

(8)

(8)

-------- - ---------- -- -

Good to. excellent

The over-all acoeplabiHty score of ~Q was-6'5, i.e.

"liked sJ ightly to

SuitabLe

moderately"
FairLy uniform

DefiQitc COOked smell ;

<Ligh t . """, t tas te

z" .

TABLE 6
Sto.ase life of dried lItooa_

Char.2tedstks

Type of
packing

Evulua tion 'CDre of dried khoa

at the end o f sto rage period (days)

Storai.e
tempcroture

30

45

60

75

90

lOS

120

8'0

8 -0
8-0

S-O
g,O
7-0

7' S

7'0
1' 0 6'S

~-- - -

,C olour

l'" ture

AP

RT

S-o

8 -0

8-0

OP

RT

~' O

80

a-o

or
AI'
GP
GP

_ Accc ptabiiity score

fQr peda,

,A P- AirJ)acked,

s-o

7 -5

1-S

RT

8-0
8-0
8 -0

80
8-0

8-0

RT
37 1C

8'0
S-O

GP

RT
RT

g,O

s-o

s-o

OP

37 !"C

81)

8 -0

RT
RT

6' 5
6'5

6-5

37 loC

6'S

6'5

AP

f Lavour

37 I"C

AP
OP
GP

OP -0,,0 packed,

6'5

g-O
7'5
7-S

7'j

S-O
S'o

7-5

7-0

7'S

7 '0

7-5
S-O
7- 5
6-5
6-5
6-5

7' j
7' 5

6-5

6'S
6 'S
6'5
S'O

0'5

6-S

7'0

7'5
7-0
6-0

~'S

6-5

6-0
5'S

7-0

6-5

5-0

6-0
4'5
6'0
4'0

6-S

6'0
6-0

6'0

5-0

6'0
4'0

6-0

5'5

)'0

1'0

6-S
6'0

RT=16-30C,

"5

3-0

5-Q
3-0
4'0

Dried Khoa
(iilChemical composition-The chemical
c.ompo,ition of dried khoa was Moisture--3-1, Fat-.33S, Protein-272. Lactose-306.
aM Ash--S'3 %.

when air-packed and stored at room temperature (16-30"C), and 105 and 60 days when
gas-packed and stored at room temperature and
37 l"C respectively.

(c) Storage /ife

of dried khoa,' Table 6

reveals (aVIlJage of 4 trials) that, in general,
early deterIoration in the dried khoa, as indicated by a tower evaluation score, set in at
~7 c::: l"C as compared to room temperature for
(111 the characteristics considered, J'iz., colour.
texture., flavour and acceptability for peda.making. Also between air-packing and gas:P!!cking, th~ former showed early deterioration
c!)mpared to the latter.

The corour, texture and flavour remained

'good' for'air-packed CAP) samples stored at
.fOom teni~rature at the end of 120, 75 and
6(} daysres.pectively; for gas-packed (GP) at
reom teni.;erature (RT) at the end of 120, 75
lUtd 60 days respectively; and for gas-packed at
~1 I"C at the: end of 105, 75 and 60 days
respectiyely. The acceptability score for peda
wits "liked slightly" when made from stored
produc;t under AP (RT) at the end of 90
days, OP (RT) 105 days and GP (37, 1C)
6Q days.
SUMMARY
A suitable method was developed for pro4uction of dried khoa which could be used for
.the preparation of acceptable quality peda.
rt consisted in standardizing fresh buffalo milk
10 S % fat, preheating to 65-70C and homosenizing, ;fi~ating to "khoa-conccntrate" stage,
adding watc::t to obtain slurry (16-18 % T.S.),
micro-pulverizing it and finally drum-drying
under staudard conditions.

The aVerage percentage chemical compos;'don of dried khoa was Moisture-3'1,

f/at~33'g, Protein-272, Lactose---30'6, and

Ash-53.
The average storage.life of dried khoa, which
'l'rill sive an acceptable quality peda, was 90 days

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first author is grateful to l.C.A.R. for
award of .Junior Fellowship.
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