Development of an analytical protocol for the estimation of maltitol from yoghurt, burfi and flavoured milk

•Enzymatic treatment based isolation method was standardized.•Optimized method was equally efficient for columns which are having very close retention time for maltitol and lactose.•HPLC method was developed and validated for estimation of maltitol in selected products.•Maltitol had good stability at different processing conditions during manufacture of yoghurt, burfi and flavoured milk.•Maltitol also exhibit good stability during storage of these products.

An enzymatic treatment based isolation method was standardized for the hydrolysis of lactose, leading to removal of lactose peak which had same retention time as maltitol from the isolates of yoghurt, burfi, pasteurized and in-bottle sterilized flavoured milk. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for estimation of maltitol in these products. The developed HPLC method was simple, precise and accurate. Heating (90 °C/10 min, 90 °C/20 min), in-bottle sterilization (121 °C/15 min), heat desiccation, and fermentation resulted in no loss of maltitol during preparation of yoghurt, burfi, pasteurized and in-bottle sterilized flavoured milk. Storage of these products had no effect on the concentration of maltitol. The proposed HPLC method can be successfully used for the routine determination of maltitol in these products.