PRESERVATIVE EFFECT OF COMMON SALT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ACIDITY IN STORED GHEE
By LAL CHAND DHARMANI and KARTAR SINGH LOHARA, Punjab Agricultural College, Lyallpur
(Received for Publication on 15 May 1946)
I N a hot country like India where butter cannot be stored for a long time, it is melted into ghee
to prevent decomposition. The dehydrated and clarified butter fat is stored either in tins or
in earthen pots. Thousands of maunds of butter are melted into ghee every day in India and its
storage is an important problem which requires careful attention.
Ghee, when stored for a long time, developes an acrid taste and unpleasant aroma which render
it unfit for edible purposes and the acidity that finds its way into ghee during its preparation, is con-
sidered to be the most important, if not the main cause of these developments. Moisture in the
presence of heat, light and air accelerates the development of acidity.
Banerjee and Doctor [1938] found that the acidity of ghee increased during storage from 4 to
36 days at 0ºC. and room temperature. Paul Arup [1929] found that ghee stored in bottles fitted
with metal screw caps and cork discs for six years showed a marked decrease in R.M. value and
there was a close correlation between the free fatty acids formed and the loss in volatile acids.
Khubchandani [1939] studied the effect of citric acid and sodium citrate on flavour, aroma
and keeping quality of butter and ghee. He added these compounds in the cream. The keeping
quality was improved by citric acid.
Godbole and Sad Gopal found, in one sample only, that salt acts as a preservative against the
action of light, air and moisture on the fat.
People in the Punjab adopt different methods of storing ghee in villages, the most common
being to store it in tins or earthen pots. Common salt is used as a preservative either in the form
of a big lump or as a powder.
With a view to studying the preservative effect of common salt on the development of acidity
in ghee during storage the experiment described below was carried out.
EXPERIMENTAL
Ghee was prepared according to the country method which is described in Allen's Commercial
Organic Analysis (Fifth Edition, Volume II, page 431). It was further clarified and made moisture-
free in the laboratory by heating it over a sand bath.
Method of storage. Tins of about 1¼ lb. capacity with air tight covers were thoroughly washed
with distilled water and dried in the air oven at 105ºC. for 24 hours. Ghee was melted at 40ºC.
and 400 gms. of ghee were stored in each tin. Fresh distilled water was added to bring the moisture
contents of the stored samples up to 0.5 per cent, 1.0 per cent and 1.5 per cent. Butter milk was
used at the rate of 0.25 per cent only. Ordinary common salt was finely powdered and added
at the rate of 2 per cent of the weight of ghee. The tins were covered with air tight covers and
shaken vigorously for a sufficiently long time to insure dispersion of water and salt. Five
samples of each treatment were kept. The experiment was arranged as follows:
Tin No.
1 to 5 . . . . . . . .
6 to 10 . . . . . . . .
11 to 15 . . . . . . . .
16 to 20 . . . . . . . .
21 to 25 . . . . . . . .
26 to 30 . . . . . . . .
31 to 35 . . . . . . . .
36 to 40 . . . . . . . .
41 to 45 . . . . . . . .
Treatment
0.5 per cent moisture
1.0 per cent moisture
1.5 per cent moisture
0.5 per cent moisture and 2.0 per cent salt
1.0 per cent moisture and 2.0 per cent salt
1.5 moisture and 2.0 per cent salt
No treatment
0.25 per cent butter milk
0.25 per cent butter milk and 2 per cent salt
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