Delve into the detailed production of Ghee from milk and what gives it the characteristic flavor.

1. GHEE
BOILING
MOKSHA CHIB
13FET1003

2. GHEE
Codex Alimentarius: Ghee is a pure clarified fat
exclusively obtained from milk, cream or butter
by means of processes involving application of
heat at atmospheric pressure, which result in
almost total removal of water and non-fat solids,
with an especially developed flavor and physical
structure and texture.
• India utilises 28% of milk produced for the
manufacture of ghee, & in 2002, it was estimated
that the annual production figure was
900000tonnes, which was valued at 135000
million INR
• It is considered as a supreme cooking or frying
medium
PARAMETER COW BUFFALO
RM value 16.9-29.7 14.5-39.9
Polenske value 0.9-3.2 0.4-5.3
Iodine value 31.0-45.6 21.4-39.9
Butyro-refractometer reading
(40˚C)
42.5-47.7 40.9-46.9
Melting point (˚C) 28.8-35.7 26.6-36.1
Unsaponifiable matter (g/100g) 0.42-0.49 0.45-0.54
Saponification value 212.8-232.8 198.0-239.3
Kirschner value 22.1 28.4
Softening point (˚C) 33.5-33.9 33.5-34.6
Smoking point (˚C) 252.0 Not reported

3. GHEE MANUFACTURE
Preparation of
butter, cream
or makkhan
followed by
heat
desiccation
To convert butter to ghee, heat is applied at controlled temps. At the various
stages of processing
I. Temp raised to about the bpt. of water while stirring to control frothing
II. Most of the free water evaporates, the rate of heating is controlled & the
temp. is maintained at about 103˚C to prevent charring of SNF, which might
result in the development of bitter flavors & brown colors
III. Temp. raised to about 105-118˚C with constant agitation to remove the water
bound to SNF & to develop characteristic flavor. A temp range of 110-120 ˚C is
preferred
A lower heating temp. improves the color but decreases the keeping quality of
ghee due to greater moisture content. A higher temp. on the other hand,
tends to reduce Vitamin A content & darken the color, but increases the
keeping quality of the finished product.

4. INDIGENOUS MILK BUTTER (MB) METHOD
• Involves souring of raw milk in earthenware vessels, which
contain bacteria within the walls of the container
Direct churning of raw
milk
• Dahi is churned to make makkhan
• Wooden beaters are used to separate makkhan, which is
then melted till all the moisture is removed
Lactic acid fermentation
of heat-treated milk to
dahi followed by churning
• Initially, excessive frothing takes place which must be controlled to prevent
boil-over till moisture evaporates, frothing subsides & temp reaches 100 ˚C
• At this temp, caramelization of curd particles is noticed & heating is
discontinued as curd particles attain golden yellow color. Contents are left
undisturbed till the residues settle down. Clarified fat is decanted off.
Skimming of clotted
cream layers (malai)
This method leaves a large quantity of ghee residue & also leads to low fat recoveries (88-90%).

5. CREAMERY BUTTER (CB) METHOD
Cream is separated
from raw milk
Cream is churned
into butter
Butter is melted to 60
˚C, pumped into
heating kettle & steam
pr. ↑ed to raise the
temp. to 90 ˚C
Contents are
constantly agitated to
prevent scorching
‘Scum’ collected on the
top surface is removed
from time to time
When all moisture has
been removed, temp.
shoots up & heating is
carefully controlled
At the end point, a
characteristic ghee flavor
emanates indicating
sufficient heat treatment
(110-120 ˚C)
Ghee is then pumped,
via an oil filter/clarifier,
into settling tanks,
cooled by circulating
water at 60 ˚C
Product is transferred
for packaging &
granulation
• There is profuse
effervescence accompanied
by crackling sound initially,
but both gradually decrease
as moisture content is
reduced
• End point shows the
disappearance of
effervescence, appearance
of finer air bubbles on the
surface of the fat &
browning of the curd
particles
• A fat recovery of 88-92%
has been reported

6. DIRECT CREAM (DC) METHOD
• This method omits the need for production of butter because cream is directly converted into ghee
• The fresh cream obtained by centrifugal separation of whole milk, cultured cream or washed cream is heated
to 115 ˚C in a stainless steel, jacketed ghee kettle fitted with an agitator, steam control valve, pressure and
temperature gauges and a movable, hollow, stainless steel tube centrally bored for emptying out the contents
• Heating is discontinued as soon as the color of the ghee residue turns to golden yellow or light brown. The
ghee residue is used for animal feeding
• It requires long heating time to remove the moisture
• Ghee produced has a slightly greasy nature
• A high content of serum solids in cream may also produce a highly caramelized
flavor in ghee & lead to about 4-6g/100g loss of butter fat in ghee residue,
depending on the fat %age in the cream
LIMITATIONS

7. PRE-STRATIFICATION (PS) METHOD
Also known as clarified butter, induced- stratification or the stratification method, takes advantage of gravity settling for
removing most of the moisture from butter & saves the large thermal energy required for removing moisture otherwise.
Method involves melting of butter mass at 80-85 ˚C, pumping the mass into a vertical storage tank and then leaving it
undisturbed for 30 min. During this method, butter stratifies into three distinct layers :
CURDY MASS
FAT
BUTTERMILK SERUM
BUTTERMILK SERUM: Consists of about 80g/100g of the moisture & 70g/100g of the
SNF contained in butter. It is drained off from the bottom of the vat. This removal
eliminates the need for prolonged heating for evaporation of moisture & results in
formation of a significantly low quantity of ghee residue, thereby reducing the fat
losses.
FAT: The fat layer is drawn into a double-jacketed steam kettle where it is heated to
105-110 ˚C to evaporate any traces of moisture and for developing the typical ghee
flavor.
PS method has been reported to save time and labor up to 45%, gives a slightly higher ghee yield than direct clarification;
the product is lower in moisture, FFA and acidity & less susceptible to peroxide development during storage, produces
ghee with mild flavor.

8. BENEFITS
1. Only small hold-up of raw material
in the plant at any time and hence
no chance for whole batch being
spoiled
2. High heat transfer coefficient,
compact design
3. Easy capacity control with no
foaming problem
4. Short residence time & less heat
damage to the product
5. System is adaptable to
automation & CIP
6. Better economic operation
7. Minimum strain on operator
8. Improved flow characteristics of
the product
CONTINUOUS GHEE MAKING
Overcomes the problems of batch methods of ghee making, such as limitations of scale of operation and excessive
exposure of the plant operators to the stress of heat & humidity
METHOD I
Molten butter is
pumped through
successive stages of
scraped surface HE
Ghee leaving the
final stage is passed
through a
centrifugal clarifier
to remove residue
Clarified ghee is
stored in a tank for
final packaging
Fat is concentrated
Fat-in-water emulsion
is mechanically
broken with the help
of centrifugal force in
clarifixator
Heat is supplied till
the development of
flavor & removal
traces of moisture
METHOD II

9. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GHEE
CONSTITUENT (g/100g) BUFFALO COW
Saponifiable constituents
Fat
Moisture
Saturated fat
Cis-Monoene
Trans-Monoene
Diene
Polyene
99.0-99.5
< 0.5
46
29
7
13
5
99.0-99.5
< 0.5
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Triglycerides
Short chain
Long chain
Trisaturated
High melting
Unsaturated
43-49
54.7
32-47
6-12
56
36-40
62.4
32-42
3-7
54.5
Partial glycerides
Diglycerides
Monoglycerides
Phosphoglycerides (mg/100g)
4.5
0.6
42.5
4.3
0.7
38.0
CONSTITUENT BUFFALO COW
Unsaponifiable constituents
Total cholesterol (mg/100g)
Lanosterol (mg/100g)
Lutein (µg/g)
Squalene (µg/g)
Carotene (µg/g)
Vitamin A (µg/g)
Vitamin E (µg/g)
Ubiquinone (µg/g)
275.0
8.27
3.1
62.4
0.0
9.5
26.4
6.5
330.0
9.32
4.2
59.2
7.2
9.2
30.5
5.0
Flavor compounds
Total free fatty acids (mg/g)
Headspace carbonyls (µM/g)
Volatile carbonyls (µM/g)
Total carbonyls (µM/g)
Total lactones (µg/g)
5.83-7.58
0.027
0.26
8.64
35.4
5.99-12.29
0.035
0.33
7.20
30.30

10. FLAVOUR COMPOSITION: CARBONYLS
Both monocarbonyls & dicarbonyls have been identified in ghee. The
quantity of carbonyl was found to be directly proportional to the
temperature of clarification.
• On storage, no new carbonyls were detected but there was a marked
increase in the alkanals, alk-2-enals & alk-2,4-dienals, which may be a reason
for deterioration In ghee flavor during storage
• In about 100 days of storage at 37 ˚C, an off-flavor developed with a
significant 4- to 5- fold rise in gas-stripped carbonyls. After 200 days, all ghee
samples developed pronounced off-flavors, & levels of carbonyls increased 9-
to 10-fold (Gaba & Jain, 1976)
• The desi ghee made from buffalo's milk contains significantly higher
concentrations of carbonyl compounds, and has a better flavor than ghee
made under controlled conditions, probably due to flavor contributed by the
adventitious microorganisms getting entry through contamination
HEADSPACE
CARBONYL
% OF TOTAL
COW
GHEE
BUFFALO
GHEE
Alkan-2-ones 85 79
Alkanals 11 19
Alk-2-enals 2 1
Alk-2,4-dienals 2 1

11. FLAVOUR COMPOSITION: LACTONES
PROPERTIES
Components δ-lactone: 85-90%
γ-lactone: 5-10%
Ratio of δ-lactone
to γ-lactone
6:1 – 20:1
Saturation Saturated lactones: 65%
Unsaturated lactones: 35%
Flavor Pleasant flavor but
variations may result in off-
flavor
Lactones have a coconut-like aroma, which is associated with
the characteristic flavor of ghee.
• Levels of γ-lactones & δ-lactones and total lactones are
reported to be higher in buffalo ghee than on cow ghee
• Lactone levels were higher in ghee prepared by DC method
than that prepared by the creamery or desi method
•It is only one component of ghee flavor, others namely FFAs
and carbonyls are more dominant
•Lactone level is found to increase with clarification which
showed that heat plays a important role in the formation of
lactones

12. FLAVOUR COMPOSITION: FFAs & ESTERS
FREE FATTY ACIDS
• FFAs are responsible for rancid flavor & also contribute to the normal flavor of ghee, and their level has been
closely related to the flavor quality
• The lower fatty acids C6:0-C10:0 though present in low conc. in ghee accounting fro only 5-10% of total FFA,
contribute significantly to ghee flavor
• Conc. of both medium-chain (C10:0 to C14:0) and long-chain (C15:0 and above) FFA were higher in cow ghee than
in buffalo ghee
• Ripening of cream affects the concentration of FFA in ghee, being higher in the product prepared from ripened
than from unripened cream or butter
ESTERS
• Esters may originate from the esterification of short-chain alcohols and FFA by the action of bacterial
esterases & are powerful odor compounds contributing to the flavor of ghee

13. FLAVOUR FORMATION
The heating process generates flavor compounds through the interaction of lipids, protein degradation products,
lactose, minerals and metabolites of microbial fermentation.

14. FLAVOUR FORMATION
I. CARBONYL COMPOUNDS: They are formed as a result of microbial metabolism of various milk constituents,
oxidation of milk lipids, heat decomposition of milk carbohydrates and fat. When ghee is made from fermented
milk or cream, acid carbonyl compounds are expected to form through complex reactions between some
carbonyls, such as glyoxal and methylglyoxal with amino acids
II. Products like ketoglycerides & carbonylic compounds are formed from oxidation of lipids whereas polar
(dicarbonyl) compounds, such as diacetyl, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural are formed by dehydration &
thermal degradation of carbohydrates
III. Production of flavor also depends on the extent to which the flavoring metabolites, such as FFA & carbonyls are
transferred from the aqueous to the fat phase during heat clarification as a result of moisture removal. When
the water is evaporated, the flavor compounds that are water soluble but have higher boiling points than water
remain in the fat phase. In addition, the steam volatile monocarbonyls are more intimately associated with the
fat phase than with the water phase

15. THERMAL OXIDATION
Since 80% of the ghee produced in India is used for culinary purposes (i.e. for frying), the changes taking place in the
composition of ghee during heating at different temperatures are of great interest.
PARAMETER EFFECT
Effect on saponifiable
matter
• Prolonged heating of ghee at temperatures ranging from 150-225◦C for 2 h results in gradual ↓ in triglycerides
and an ↑in di- & mono-glycerides, probably due to hydrolysis
• Heating of ghee up to 225◦C has no appreciable effect on saturated fatty acids from C4:0 to C12:0, but causes a
decrease in C10:1, C14:1, C16:1, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 fatty acids
• The higher the temp, the greater is the effect
Effect on unsaponifiable
constituents
• Prolonged heating ↓the cholesterol, carotene, vitamin A and E contents of ghee
• At 200◦C and 225◦C of heating, carotene and vitamin A were destroyed completely
within 15 min, but the losses in vitamin E were 65.5 and 71.0%
• Vitamin E was completely destroyed at the end of a 30-min heating period
Effect on carbonyl
compounds & flavor
• Upon heating fresh ghee at 150◦C, peroxides and epoxides ↑ with ↑ing heating period
• Thermally oxidized ghee contains more peroxides of lower polarity than of higher polarity
• A great ↑ in the ratio of monocarbonyls to total carbonyls with saturated aldehydes as main monocarbonyls
were reported
Effect on
physicochemical
properties
• Prolonged heating does not appreciably change the RM, Polenske and saponification values, but slightly ↑the
FFA content and butyro-refractometer reading and ↓ the iodine value of ghee when heated at 150–225◦C for 2
h
• The higher the temp and greater the period of heating, the greater is the effect