Physico-Chemical Characteristics, Antioxidant Activities, and ACE Inhibitory Potential of Pakistani Dahi Supplemented...

Dahi as well as date fruits are considered very important in our diet due to the presence of nutritional and medicinal properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant potential and angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of date paste added to indigenous dahi during storage (0-8 days, 5°C). The prepared dahi was also evaluated for its physico-chemical characteristics and microbiological and sensorial quality during the storage period. The freshly prepared dahi supplemented (prepared from both cow's and buffalo's milk) with different date fruit pastes showed less syneresis, improved water holding capacity as well as sensorial quality compared to the control. The freshly prepared buffalo's milk dahi supplemented with different date fruit pastes performed the best with regard to TP contents (0.54-0.89 mg gallic acid equivalent/g), TF contents (163.43-243.42 mg quercetin equivalent/100 g), FRAP (733.11-898.66 μg ascorbic acid equivalent/g), and TAC (164.30-254.10 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/100 g) compared to the control. Regarding ACE inhibition, the freshly prepared buffalo's milk dahi supplemented with date paste showed higher values (61.36%-72.43%) than the control (49.03%). The dahi prepared from buffalo's milk exhibited improved physico-chemical characteristics, antioxidant as well as ACE inhibition (%) than those of cow's milk dahi. It was concluded that dahi supplemented with date pastes from different varieties exhibited improved physico-chemical characteristics, antioxidant activity as well as ACE inhibition (%) than those of control dahi.