Abstract:Aloe-vera (
Aloe barbadensis) is one of the most important medicinal plants, which has several medicinal and therapeutic properties. The virtues of
Aloe-vera have been recorded for thousands of years by many ancient civilizations. Nowadays
Aloe-vera is used as a functional ingredient of so many food products. This study was carried out to evaluate
Aloe-vera leaf powder as a functional ingredient of food. So in this context
Aloe vera leaf powder was prepared and incorporated in Aloe-
Laddu. Aloe- pickle was also prepared by using fresh
Aloe-vera leaf. These two food products were evaluated for proximate composition, sensory quality characteristics and storage stability. It was found that Aloe-
laddu had 27.38% and Aloe-pickle had 17.39% crude fiber, while protein content of Aloe-
laddu and Aloe-pickle was 10.02% and 9.77% respectively.
The data obtained for different sensory quality characteristics of developed products were evaluated on nine point hedonic scale. Mean scores for overall acceptability for the products viz. Aloe-laddo and Aloe-pickle were found to be 7.91 and 7.92 respectively. The mean sensory scores of overall acceptability showed that products were liked very much by the panelists.
The storage quality of Aloe-laddu and Aloe-pickle were evaluated for period of one month and three months respectively. It was found that there was significant decrease in sensory attributes in Aloe-laddu during storage period whereas significant increase was observed in sensory attributes of Aloe-pickle during storage.
This study suggests that food products developed by using Aloe-vera leaf have very good nutritional properties along with its medicinal value. Therefore these food products can be used in day to day life for health benefits.