Impact of cardamom, cinnamon and ginger essences on keeping quality of butter

Rancidity is one of the major quality deteriorations which occurs in unsalted butter. This study evaluated the effects of different concentrations of commercially available natural extracts of cardamom (0.15, 0.20 and 0.25%), cinnamon (0.05, 0.10 and 0.15%) and ginger (0.10, 0.15 and 0.20%) essences on degree of rancidity in unsalted butter. The treated and control fresh butter samples were stored at 4 °C. Free fatty acid value (FFAV), peroxide value (PV) and lipolytic bacteria count (LBC) were examined on the 7^th, 21^st and 35^th d. The reduction of FFAV, PV and LBC values were significant (P<0.05) in all treated samples comparing to the control during the whole storage period. The highest rank for overall acceptability in sensory evaluation test was observed for the minimum concentration level of all three treatments. In conclusion, rancidity development in unsalted butter can be reduced by adding cardamom, cinnamon and ginger essences at the rate of 0.25, 0.15 and 0.20%, respectively.