Defination of Ghee and Butter Oil and Their Benefits

Ghee: Ghee may be defined as heat clarified butterfat prepared from cow or buffalo or sheep or goat milk or their mixtures and having characteristic cooked or acidic flavour and grainy texture.

Butter oil: It may be defined as clarified butterfat and normally having bland or flat flavour. The grains are either absent or under developed in it.

 

i. Benefits of Making Ghee

The popularity and significance of ghee in India is owing to following features/benefits:

•  Established market
•  Simple technology
•  Low cost of production
•  Longer keeping quality
•  Refrigeration storage not required
•  Butterfat, the most expensive constituent of milk, is preserved efficiently in form of ghee.
•  It helps salvaging the sub-standard and surplus milk.

 

ii. Modes of Ghee Utilization

There are regional and seasonal variations in the modes of ghee utilization, which can be influenced by local food habits, price, number of festivals and image of the product as a nutritional supplement. A major part of ghee is utilized for culinary purposes. This may cover its extensive use for the direct dressing of food articles,such as unleavened breads, cooked rice and lentils (dhal), for flavouring, and as a cooking and frying medium. About 60-70% of total ghee in India is used for direct dressing, and almost 15-20% for the cooking and frying of foods. A significant quantity of ghee is used for confectioners and bakers. Innumerable Indian sweet meats based on milk solids, cereals, fruits and vegetables are cooked for preference in ghee. Sweets made from use of desi ghee are sold at premium price. Ghee is recognized as a sacred article, and approximately 5-7% is used in religious rites,such as the burning of ghee dips, lighting of the sacred fire in ‘Yagnas’, preparation of sacred offerings and ‘Prasadam’, and even for cremation of dead bodies. It is conjectured that ‘Ahutis’ (burning of ghee in religious functions) purifies the air.The practice is considered environmentally safe. Other usages of ghee of minor significance include ladies’ hair dressing, body massage of wrestlers, athletes and invalids, and in the formulation of indigenous pharmaceutical drugs. Ghee is also used for flavouring snuff by mixing and grinding to a very fine powder.