Quality and economic evaluation of functional chevon patties fortified with microencapsulated docosahexaenoic acid powder

Astudy was conducted for the evaluation of quality and economics of functional chevon patties enriched with microencapsulated docosahexaenoic acid powder (MDP). Pre-standardized patties were incorporated with MDP at three different levels (T1-1.0%, T2-2.0% and T3-3.0%) and compared with the control (No MDP). The pH, emulsion stability and yield were comparable in all the treated and control patties. Significant (P<0.05) improvement was recorded in cohesiveness, chewiness, gumminess and resilience with increasing levels of MDP. Colour profile viz., L*, b*, C* and H* were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the treated patties than the control. Appearance, flavour and overall acceptability scores of T1 and T2 were comparable to the control and significantly (P<0.05) lower for T3. The cost of production was marginally higher (7.27%) in treated patties than the control. The net returns and the margin of safety was significantly higher (P<0.05) in T2 than the control. Break-even output was achieved earlier for T2 than the control. The benefit: cost ratio was higher for both the control and T2. It was concluded that incorporation of 2% MDP in the patties gives higher returns and improves quality.