ZAL R. KOTHAVALLA AND N. S. DOCTOR.                     163

Ruehe and Ramsey (loc. cit.) to remedy it by adding butter-culture distillate, to
give it a flavour required by a particular class of customers. It may, however,
be pointed out that a preference for a particular type of flavour is dependent
more upon the habitual association of the consumer with that flavour rather
than any distinctive merit of the same. For instance, although buffalo fat
(ghee) is poorer in its nutritive value, i.e., carotene and vitamin A-content,
than the Jersey or the Sindhi, yet the Indian consumer has a distinct
preference for the former on account of its typical ghee flavour and taste. It
may therefore be concluded that under ordinary working conditions in India,
Sindhi butter proved superior to Jersey in firmness and flavour in the long run.

                                     SUMMARY

An experimental investigation to study the difference in quality of the
Indian and the Western table butter is described.

The butter samples were prepared under identical and ideal hygienic con-
ditions from selected Jersey (English), Sindhi and Surti buffalo (Indian) herds
kept on uniform and identical treatment with regard to feed, environmental
conditions, etc. English butter scored slightly higher over Indian butter in
flavour on opening the tins, but this was short-lived. In body, firmness and
standing up quality, the Indian butter scored higher.

These differences in quality might be attributed to component fatty acids
as well as to carotene content, and these in turn are to be attributed to
differences in breed.

                             ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to express their thanks to Professor V. Subrahmanyan,
D.Sc., F.I.C. and Mr. B. N. Banerjee, M.Sc. of the Department of Biochemistry,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for their interest and advice in the
course of this investigation. They are also thankful to the Livestock Expert,
Bombay Presidency, Mr. E. P. Little of the Government House, Ganeshkhind
and to the Principal, Agricultural College, Poona, for very kindly helping to
obtain the samples of butter.

                                    REFERENCES

Banerjee, B. N. (1936). Agric. and Livestock in Ind. 6, 274.
Barnicoat, C. R. (1935). Analyst, 60, 653.
Blaisse, J. and Martin, R. (1938). Lait 16, 9, 243.
Bockhout, F. W. J. and de Vries, J. J. (1919). Centralbel f. Bakteriol. II Abt. 49, 373.
British Standard Methods for the Sampling and Chemical analysis of butter (draft) 1936
Davies, W. L. (1936). The Chemistry of Milk.
Eckles, C H., Combs, W. B. and Macy, H. (1929). Milk and Milk Products.
Ferguson, W. S. and Bishop, G. (1936). Analyst, 61, 515.