Recent Trends and Developments in Milk-Based Beverages

Abstract

Abstract In recent times, approach to healthy foods by consumers has changed dramatically. Today the consumption of functional foods plays an important role because of their nutritional and therapeutic properties along with their basic nutritional properties. Ready-to-drink beverages are the most active functional foods that offer consumers demand by its excellent delivering system for nutrients and bioactive molecules like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fatty acids, fibers, probiotics, and prebiotics. Ready-to-drink beverages provide alternate, economical, and effective means of protecting human health in the present time of increasing medical costs. The different types of milk-based beverages are whey-based beverages, cereal-based beverages, and milk-based malted health drinks. Milk-based beverages are manufactured by applying several Kombucha starters. There has been growing interest in potential use of milk as an alternative sports drink to optimize the hydration levels in athletes due to the natural presence of water and electrolytes like sodium and potassium. Recently, pulsed electric field (PEF) an air-coupled ultrasonic technique to detect physiological changes in liquids is a nonthermal preservative method. On/in-line near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) is the most efficient and advanced tool in monitoring and controlling of process and product quality in food industry. Application of nanotechnology in the food industry by monitoring food quality using biosensors and nanoencapsulation of food bioactive compounds is an emerging application.