Spice oil as flavour adjunct in Bhapa dahi (steamed Dahi) and its impact on shelf-life extension of product

‘Bhapa dahi’ meaning steamed dahi/yogurt, is a popular Bengali fermented dairy based delicacy popular in West Bengal. Spices and their extract have been used as food additives to improve the flavor, aroma and even extend the shelf-life of food. Besides these, the spice extract might confer antimicrobial properties and exert therapeutic virtues too. Three types of spice essential oils viz. cinnamon, clove and cumin were tried out as adjunct flavour in mango flavoured Bhapa dahi and its influence on the microbial quality with emphasis on Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) count and shelf-life of product was studied. It is recommended to utilize clove oil at level of 0.04 % by weight of the base mix (viz., chakka and sweetened condensed milk) to prepare mango flavoured Bhapa dahi. Clove oil was superior over cinnamon (@ 0.02 % by weight) and cumin oil (@ 0.02 % by weight) as flavour adjunct in mango flavoured Bhapa dahi. Use of such additive not only enhanced the sensory score of the fermented product, but also enhanced its shelf-life by about 14 days (vs. control product) when packaged in polypropylene pack and stored under refrigerated condition; the growth of LAB was somewhat restricted in the fermented product during refrigerated storage.