Development of Functional Nutritional Whey Beverage with Herbal Extract and Its Sensory Quality

The dairy industry is one of the biggest Food Industries worldwide. In the dairy industry, lots of whey is during the Paneer manufacturing process. In local sweetmeat production units of India, a huge amount of whey is not handled for preservation and is discarded locally which increases the BOD level of wastewater. The objective of the current work is to make a value-added product utilizing dairy waste with the inclusion of natural preservatives in the form of herbal extracts. Transforming the whey into a value-added product is addressed in the present study. The management of such waste may generate a beneficial product (Herbal whey beverage) with numerous health benefits and it may be recognized as a functional whey beverage worldwide. The methodology of the production of whey was followed using the natural curdling agent in hot conditions with cow milk and cooled down immediately. Herbal extracts were prepared and mixed with whey, maintaining a proper ratio, and different trial runs were done. The final pasteurization step was carried out with a specific time-temperature profile. The final finished product was hot-filled in a 200 ml sterile glass bottle and corked. The production, preservation, and overall shelf-life study were undergone in the current work. The preservation concept was addressed with some natural preservatives using herbs like Cumin, Cinnamon, and Mint for their antimicrobial properties. The observation of the current work satisfactorily claims that the developed beverage is microbially safe for up to 4 weeks when kept in a refrigerated condition. The sensory analysis and chemical analysis also suggest the product’s goodness up to 4 weeks with all attributes of sensory parameters like haze, pH, brix, colour, flavour, taste, and mouth-feel. All the operational steps were handled hygienically.