Grain formation is one of the critical attributes affecting consumer acceptability of ghee. It was observed that both control ghee and low-cholesterol ghee had grains of 0.236 ± 0.006 and 0.250 ± 0.002 mm size after incubation at 29°C for 24 h, respectively. The maximum grain yield was 63 ± 2.60% and 68 ± 1.15% at 26°C in control and low-cholesterol ghee, respectively. Ghee grains in both the cases were stable over a temperature range of 25°to 36°C. Time taken by both the samples for onset of nucleation was 50 min. The study revealed that cholesterol removal did not affect the crystallisation behaviour.

Cow and buffalo ghee samples were prepared from the milk collected from the locations in eastern, western, southern, and northern parts of the country. Ghee prepared so was subjected to triglyceride analysis using gas-liquid chromatography and S-limits were calculated using the equations specified in the ISO method. All the five S-limits, as specified in the standard for cow milk, got deviated on both the lower and upper side of the limits in the case of the cow as well as buffalo ghee samples of all four regions. Buffalo ghee samples were found to have a higher upper S-total (ST) limit ranging from 109.34 to 118.21 in the samples from all four regions, whereas lower value was slightly less (94.06 to 94.59) than the lower range specified in the standard for buffalo ghee samples from eastern, northern and southern region samples. A similar trend was observed in the case of s-limit (S4) specified for the detection of Palm oil and beef tallow. In cow ghee also the S-values showed a trend of deviation from the standard.

Low‐cholesterol ghee (LCG) feeding did not show any significant increase in total plasma cholesterol level from day 0 (56.8 ± 6.8 mg/dL) to day 90 (59.5 ± 0.8 mg/dL). Plasma HDL cholesterol (HDL) levels increased by 59.9%, whereas LDL cholesterol (LDL) showed a reduction of 74.8%. Total plasma triacylglycerol (mg/dL) did not show any significant change within or between groups. Relative contribution of lipoprotein fraction HDL was 69% vs 47% in control. Atherogenic Index was low (0.47 ± 0.05) vs 1.03 ± 0.2 in the control. Deposition of cholesterol in arteries and liver was also less (0.423 mg/g tissue) than in control (0.648 mg/g tissue). Feeding LCG improved the lipid profile of rats.

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