Antioxidant properties and sensory attributes of blends prepared from standardized milk and soy milk

Abstract

Purpose Although milk is considered a vital source of nutrition for the livelihood, as the beginning of civilization, its antioxidant potential is required to be improved. This paper aims to increase antioxidant activities in milk and soy milk (Glycine max L.) has been found as a good compatible source. Hence, the present work was planned to investigate the impact of blending of different proportions of soy milk with standardized milk (i.e. 50 per cent soy milk with 50 per cent standardized milk, 60 per cent soy milk with 40 per cent standardized milk, 70 per cent soy milk with 30 per cent standardized milk and 100 per cent standardized milk as control sample) on antioxidant properties and sensory attributes of the blends. Design/methodology/approach Antioxidant properties of the blends were determined in terms of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ferric reducing antioxidant power and total phenol content. Sensory evaluation was carried out using a nine-point hedonic scale based on four selected quality attributes (i.e. smell, taste, color and appearance and mouthfeel) and ranked for their quality traits by fuzzy modeling. Findings A blend containing 70 per cent soy milk with 30 per cent standardized milk showed the highest antioxidant activities as compared to control milk sample (p < 0.05). Blend of 50 per cent soy milk with 50 per cent standardized milk was found most acceptable on the basis of sensory analysis and its antioxidant activities were also appreciable as compared to control milk sample (p < 0.05). Smell, taste, color and appearance and mouthfeel influenced the acceptability of formulated milk samples in decreasing order of significance (p < 0.05). Originality/value The present attempt has been made to formulate liquid milk by mixing standardized milk and soy milk, in which enhancement in the antioxidant activities of standardized milk and masking of off-flavor of soy milk is done. It is not done before and it may improve the nutritional and commercial value of the milk. Further, fuzzy modeling used for choosing appropriate blend in terms of sensory scores is also found as a novel approach.