Development of Vegetable Based Milk from Decorticated Sesame (Sesamum Indicum)

Problem statement: Decorticated sesame seed can supply us with nutritious, functional and healthy meals with relatively low cost. These properties make sesame a valuable source of protein and other nutrients to be utilized in imitated dairy products, which could be used for infant and adults with lactose intolerance as well as for vegetarian or others who like to eat dairy products free from cholesterol. Additionally, the production of sesame-based dairy products can overcome the problems that limit consumption of soy-based dairy products such as antinutritional factors, flavor and flatulence. The major challenges in developing dairy analogs from plant sources are: unacceptable flavor, low solids yield and low dispersion stability. Approach: The following factors were investigated to increase/optimize the sesame milk yield, dispersion stability and sensory acceptance: pretreatment of sesame seed with simple physical treatments (soaking in water, boiling, pressure cooking, steaming and combination treatments) and heat treatment of sesame milk (pasteurization or sterilization). Results: Heat treatments during all steps of processing proved to be the most important factor in determining the yield and quality of sesame milk. The best treatment was pasteurized sesame milk (75°C for 5 min) with 12% initial sesame seed concentration (previously dried at 170°C for 5 sec) and formulated with the addition of 2% sucrose. Conclusion: The developed procedure for sesame milk production resulted in high yield, excellent dispersion stability and good sensory acceptability.