Mare’s milk has long been considered to have special nutritive and therapeutic properties in Mongolia and southern states of the former Soviet Union. It is now gaining popularity in some parts in Europe also. Mares’ milk is characterized by their unique nutritional profile. Therefore, interest has increased in the use of mare’s milk for human nutrition in the past several years, especially in France and Germany. As compared to many other mammal species, mare’s milk is highly appreciated for similarity to human milk in terms of chemical composition allowing its use as a substitute for mother’s milk in infant feeding. Mare’s milk also has been used for the treatment of certain human pathologies such as hepatitis, chronic ulcer and tuberculosis. This review dwells on the chemical composition, nutritional value and various health-promoting properties of mare’s milk.

Mineral deficiency can be defined as a condition that caused due to reduced level of any of the minerals essential to human health. Low mineral concentration may impair a function dependent on that mineral in a body. Minerals support normal growth and development through various biochemical reactions. Its deficiencies can lead to a variety of health problems, such as fatigue, weak bones or a low immunity and other disorders. A large section of today’s population is suffering from micronutrient deficiencies caused largely by deficiency of vitamins and minerals. Iron and Zinc deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world, and is a public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Widespread malnutrition specially among children is of great concern as it affects child growth, cognitive development and resistance to infection. Malnutrition due to mineral deficiency is a great concern in India as large number of children are suffering mineral deficiency due to insufficient mineral rich diet. Pearl Millets is important cereal crop and provides various minerals which are required for the wellbeing of a human body. It is enriched with Iron, Zinc and other minerals and its inclusion in diet through various food products could be useful in battling mineral deficiency.

The objective of this study was evaluation of the shelf life of reconstituted kheer packed in previously sterilized cups and stored at 10± 1°C for 3 days. During period of studies the samples were examined for sensory evaluation after the first, second and third day using five treatments T1 (Pumpkin flesh kheer), T2 (1 per cent pumpkin powder + 43 per cent skim milk powder), T3 (2 per cent pumpkin powder + 42 per cent skim milk powder), T4 (3 per cent pumpkin powder + 41 per cent skim milk powder) and T5 (4 per cent pumpkin powder + 40 per cent skim milk powder). Samples were studied for sensory properties viz. colour, flavour, body texture, appearance and overall acceptability. Statistical analysis for shelf life studies revealed that both the treatments and storage period had significant effect on sensory qualities of the product. The scores for colour, flavour, body and texture, appearance and overall acceptability of all kheer samples decreased with the advancement of storage period. The rate of decline in the flavour score of T3 was more as compared to all other treatments. The score for T3 was (7.12) on first day which dropped to (6.05) on third day. The rate of decrease of scores for body and texture was more in treatment T5 than T1, T2, T3 and T4. There was a statistically significant difference in the appearance of reconstituted kheer samples for all the treatments on the day of preparation. The difference between all treatments was non-significant on second and third day of storage. The overall acceptability for T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 samples decreased with the progress of storage period.

Nowadays there has been a significant interest in the development of innovative functional food products conferring customized benefits to the consumers viz., physical and mental well-being, dental health, gastro-intestinal functions, etc. Among the dairy products with live cultures, probiotic ice cream and fermented frozen desserts such as frozen yoghurt are the emerging functional foods. Ice creams and frozen yoghurt are food products showing potential for use as probiotic vehicles and are highly popular with the consumers. The problem to be tackled relates to the loss of viability of probiotic cells in frozen dairy desserts which can occur during product formulation, processing, freezing and storage. The development of probiotic frozen dairy desserts containing live probiotic bacteria necessitates certain technological interventions. The means used to attain higher survivability of probiotic cells in such frozen products include use of selected probiotic strains, use of prebiotics along with probiotics, encapsulation of probiotic cells, use of cryoprotectants, etc.