Development of Functional Calcium Rich Beverage Mix for Lactose Intolerance People

Lactose intolerance is the most common digestive disorder caused by the inability to digest the lactose in milk. Lactose intolerance may lead to reduced bone density when accompanied by avoidance of dairy. The only treatment ever known for lactose intolerance is lactose-free food. Thus keeping this in view the objective is to develop the plant based beverage mix for lactose intolerance people using functional ingredients viz., ragi (Eleusine coracana) milk powder, green banana and ginger. The techniques used for processing the ragi milk powder are soaking, extraction of milk, dehydration, milling and roasting. Control was developed by using skimmed milk powder, green banana and ginger and in test treatment ragi milk powder was added. The developed product was analyzed for microstructure, physical, functional and sensory evaluated. The developed beverage mix was allowed for proximate nutrient analysis. The result revealed that the ragi milk powder containing treatment was acceptable in terms of all sensory attributes when compared to control. The microstructure analysis result revealed that the structure of test sample was very small and polygonal in shape whereas the control sample had large particle size and round smooth surface. The beverage mix had good protein, high calcium, low fat and no lactose. It may be concluded that the developed beverage mix is a lactose free functional food which is suitable for lactose intolerance and also calcium deficient people with improved nutritional content and reduced phytochemical content without any negative impact on sensory attributes.