February 17/Haryana, India/Agriculture Business Week -- According to recent research from Karnal, India, "Sucrose was successfully replaced with the sweetener aspartame for the preparation of the indigenous dairy product burfi. Analytical conditions were standardized for the solid phase extraction of aspartame and its degradation products from burfi followed by their reverse phase HPLC."

"Recovery using this method was 90-97%. Aspartame at a level of 0.065% of milk w/w scored highest in terms of sweetness perception and resembled control burfi in sweetness. Storage studies at 6-8 degrees C revealed that aspartame-sweetened burfi resembled the control burfi in retaining the sensory profile but showed an increase in acidity and microbial load and could not retain the texture," wrote S. Arora and colleagues.

The researchers concluded, "High-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed no degradation of aspartame in burfi, establishing its stability and hence its sweetness on storage."

Arora and colleagues published their study in International Journal of Dairy Technology ("The Development of Burfi Sweetened with Aspartame." International Journal of Dairy Technology, 2010;63(1):127-135).

For additional information, contact S. Arora, Natl Dairy Res Inst, Div Dairy Chem, Karnal 132001, Haryana, India.

From the March 1, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition