Assessment of the quality of different brands of ghee available in Bangladesh

Abstract

The present experiment was conducted to assess the quality of Gheefrom six different brands available in Bangladesh namely Brand1 (B1),Brand2 (B2), Brand3 (B3), Brand4 (B4), Brand5 (B5) and Brand6 (B6).The study was aimed to investigate the quality of ghee by comparingwith the standard of Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution(BSTI). The Ghee samples were collected and analyzed to
know themoisture (%), fat (%), acid value, free fatty acid (FFA), melting point,iodine value, saponification value, peroxide value, and identify types ofadulterants added such as vanaspati, sweet potato, mashed potato orother starches, old and rancid ghee, synthetic coloring matter, coal tardyes, animal fat - tallow or lard and waxes. The data revealed that allthe chemically analyzed values differed significantly (P<0.05) fromeach other of the brands. The moisture content was within the BSTIstandard. Significant variations (P<0.05) in fat, acid value, FFA,melting point, iodine value, saponification value, and peroxide valueamong different ghee brands were also found. The iodine value washigh in all other 5 brands, and low saponification values were detected between the samples. No starch, synthetic coloring matter, coal tar dyes,animal fat, or waxes were detected except for some rancidity in B2,which indicated that good sanitary measures were adopted during themanufacture of the supplied ghee samples. The results indicated that thesupplied ghee samples were not satisfactory in terms of BSTI standards,as B1 brand ghee contains a high melting point and peroxide value witha low iodine value. Therefore, all the brands should ensure their qualityproperly for the consumer.