March, 1952] H. LAXMINARAYANA et
al
17
The sale of dahi in containers exposed to atmosphere was a very common
practice of the halwais in North India. Such shops were situated in crowded streets
and dahi was kept in open shallow vessels exposed to dust, flies and to splashes of
rain-water in monsoon. There was very little attention paid to the cleanliness of
the hands or containers used at the time of selling either by the vendor or by the
buyer. In the south, it was more common to find the villagers bringing curd into
urban areas and selling it from door to door. Here too, there was a complete
absence of hygienic practices in the handling of dahi.
RESULTS
The results of the preliminary examination of dahi samples in regard to texture,
flavour and microscopic appearance are given in Table II. The percentage dis-
tribution of the samples according to the characteristics shown by them is given in
the table. The results of plate counts and acidity, which were also obtained during
the preliminary examination of dahi at the sampling centres, are presented along
with the results of chemical analysis in Table III.
It was observed that a majority of the samples of dahi collected in South India
were thin and watery in consistency with lumps of curd floating occasionally in
them, irrespective of the time of year. They had also a pronounced acid smell as
well as a sour taste, some of the samples being extremely sour. Very few samples
collected in summer and not more than 10 to 30 per cent of those collected in winter
(particularly those obtained near Madras or Mysore) possessed a good texture as
well as the typical dahi flavour. In 15 to 25 per cent of the samples, peptonisation
of the curd, gas formation and disagreeable flavours were noticed while estery or
alcoholic flavours were noticed in a few instances.
The samples of dahi collected from Poona, Bhusaval and Nagpur also contained
a high proportion of sour dahi but most of them showed fairly good texture. On
the other hand, the samples from Gujarat were generally very poor both in regard
to body and in flavour, a few samples from Baroda being the only exceptions.
About 50 per cent of the samples collected in Bombay showed good physical
texture, sweet or mildly sour taste, and pleasant aroma. Some 30 per cent of
them were sour and the rest were associated with various defects. There was
not much difference between the winter and summer dahi, except that the latter
included a greater number of samples (mostly collected during monsoon)
having estery or alcoholic flavours as well as showing peptonisation and gas forma-
tion.
As regards the Calcutta samples, nearly 60 per cent of those collected in winter
had very good texture together with a pleasant flavour, the rest were either watery
or associated with off-flavours. Most of the summer samples had a poor texture.
Some 30 per cent showed the characteristic flavour of dahi, 50 per cent were sour
and about 10 per cent were associated with estery or alcoholic flavours. A large
number of the Calcutta samples were also sweet to taste and in some cases this was
reported to be due to the sugar added to them.
Almost all samples collected from areas in Tirhut Valley, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi,
Punjab, and Sind, irrespective of season, were characterized by good curd formation