NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 3 Refrigeration and Freezing — In-text Question
Book page 46 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Why does butter need refrigeration and ghee does not? Hint: Find out how butter and ghee are made at home.
Answer
Because butter still has water in it, and ghee does not. Microbes need moisture. Butter gives them moisture, so it must be kept cold. Ghee has no water left, so microbes cannot grow in it even at room temperature.
How ghee is made at home — these are the four steps shown in the picture on page 46.
Heat the butter. Butter is put in a pan on a low flame.
Water separates from the butter. The butter melts and the water in it comes out.
Water evaporates. The heat turns that water into vapour, which goes into the air. You can hear it crackling.
Ghee is prepared. What is left is clear golden ghee. The brown milk solids settle at the bottom and are strained out.
Making ghee from butter is really a way of removing every drop of water.
Butter
Ghee
How it is made
Cream or malai is churned; the fat gathers as butter
Butter is heated until the water evaporates
Water in it
Quite a lot, plus milk solids
Almost none
Can microbes grow in it?
Yes, easily, if it is left warm
No — there is no moisture for them
How it is stored
In the fridge
In a covered jar in the kitchen, at room temperature
How long it keeps
A few days to a few weeks
Many months
Finding #5: Cold temperature slows down microbes. That is why butter, milk, vegetables and cake are kept in a fridge.
Why cold works at all: Microbes do not die in a fridge — they only become very slow. That is why a fridge makes food last days or weeks, but not forever. Making ghee is stronger: it removes the water altogether, and then no fridge is needed.
One care with ghee: always take it out with a dry spoon. A wet spoon puts water back into the jar, and where there is water there can be microbes.