Natural Preservatives and Nanoencapsulation in Dairy Foods: Applications in Khoya and Indigenous Milk Products

Santoshkumar Madhavrao Dapkekar

International Journal of Scientific Research in Chemistry, 2026, vol. 11, issue 2, 54-63

Abstract: The food culture and dairy economy of South Asia is rooted in the importance of indigenous dairy products such as khoya, peda, burfi, kalakand and other traditional milk sweets. Their high moisture content, rich nutrient composition and near neutral pH make them highly susceptible to microbial spoilage, lipid oxidation and quality deterioration during storage and distribution. The growing consumer desire for clean-label and minimally processed foods has stimulated the interest in the use of natural preservatives from plants, essential oils, bacteriocins and other bioactive sources. This review discusses recent developments in the applications of natural preservatives and nanoencapsulation techniques to enhance the safety, stability and shelf life of khoya and indigenous milk products. The review covers the major natural preservatives used in dairy systems, nanoencapsulation techniques such as nanoemulsions, liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, and biopolymer-based nanocarriers and their effect on microbial inhibition, oxidative stability, physicochemical properties, texture, and sensory quality. Available evidence suggests that nanoencapsulation improves stability, controlled release and efficacy of natural preservatives with minimum undesirable flavor changes. Future perspectives comprise smart packaging, AI assisted shelf-life prediction, sustainable nanocarriers and scale-up for commercial application. The use of nanoencapsulation as an aid to natural preservation is a promising approach to develop traditional dairy products that are safer, more stable and acceptable to consumers.

Keywords: Khoya; Indigenous dairy products; Natural preservatives; Nanoencapsulation; Shelf-life extension; Functional dairy foods; Food nanotechnology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
Note: Article URL: https://ijsrch.com/home/article/view/IJSRCH261129
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ijsrch.com/home/article/view/IJSRCH261129 Article URL (text/html)
https://ijsrch.com/home/article/download/IJSRCH261129/IJSRCH261129 Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cuo:ijsrch:v11:y2026:i2:id:102

DOI: 10.32628/IJSRCH261129

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Scientific Research in Chemistry from International Journal of Scientific Research in Chemistry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Pankaj Sharma ().