European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety

Value-added dairy products significantly elevate the nutritional quality, functional attributes and economic worth of traditional dairy foods, effectively addressing the dynamic and health-conscious demands of modern consumers. In this context, Chia seeds emerge as a powerful functional ingredient and nutritional supplement, distinguished by their nutrient-dense composition coupled with diverse techno-functional properties making them highly suitable for innovative dairy product development. In present study, the acceptability of form and level of Chia seeds in indigenous milk-based product, Rabri was studied on the basis of sensory characterization. The control sample was prepared from full fat milk (6% fat) and standardized milk (4.5%) was used for manufacturing of experimental product. The Chia seeds as whole and powdered form were added @ 0.5% for the manufacturing of Rabri. The product was sensorily evaluated using a 9 point Hedonic scale. The whole Chia seeds incorporated Rabriwas acceptable with overall acceptability (OA) of 7.90±0.14 as it was found at par with control that had OA-7.93±0.06whereas, Chia seeds powder incorporated Rabriwas scored least (OA-7.02±0.13). The colour& appearance (6.82±0.18) and body & texture (6.99±0.16) of Rabri containing powdered Chia seeds scored lowest. Further, the whole Chia seeds at different level (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) were added for Rabri making. The 0.5 and 1.0 % containing experimental samples scored the highest sensory score (OA-7.84±0.12and 7.59±0.08 respectively) whereas2% whole Chia seeds scored least (OA-3.46±0.14) and resulted in a productwith very viscous body and dull in color. Therefore, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% level of incorporation of Chia seeds were selected.