Functional benefits of Ghee

India ranked first in milk production in the world with per capita availability of milk is 225 grams per day in the year 2001- 2002 to increased 355 grams per day in the year 2016-17 (NDDB, 2018). In ancient time, ghee was produced far back as 1500 BC (Achaya, 1997). Ghee is considered as traditional Indian milk products. The market of ghee is about 37% in urban areas as well as about 21% in rural areas. Cow Ghee is recognized to be digested about 96% which is best as compared to all different types of vegetable and animal supply fats (Mahakalkar et al., 2014). Cow Ghee is also utilized in Ayurveda for different medical applications. Ayurveda medicine suggests different treatment protocols for different ailments using medicated ghee manufactured with different herbal extracts. Ghee is one of the highly nutritious, costlier and most acceptable ghee of fat on the Indian subcontinent, because of its high nutritional and sensory characteristics. In ghee preparation, the fermentation of milk to curd may or may not be performed to render fat from the medium. It can also be prepared directly by separating the cream form the milk followed by heat treatment by different methods. Desi ghee is generally manufactured for milk fat obtained from fermented milks whether from cow or buffalo in which curd has to be churned in the form of butter by heat clarification method to separate out fat from non-fat medium. Ghee is considered as an important cooking medium, because of its taste, pleasant flavour and also promotes good health. Ghee is nutritionally more reliable than the other oils or fats due to the fact of its content medium chain fatty acids, which are absorbed directly by the liver and burned to supply energy (Kumar et al., 2018). Ghee is highly shelf stable food due to presence of low moisture and also content natural antioxidants (den Berg, 1988). Ghee remains a important choice among households food in India as compared to the other fats or oil. It is popularly known by different brands like Gowardhan, Anik, Madhusudhan, Verka, Amul, Gopaljee, Nestle, Patanjali and Britannia in the market. However, ghee is essential for good health and consuming it beyond the individual limit may show detrimental health effects, because of ghee having cholesterol content and is also contains highly saturated fat