Paneer - Unripe Variety of Soft Cheese-A Review Satpute Prashant Tanhaji, Swami Shrikant Baslingappa* Department of Post-Harvest Engineering, Post Graduate Institute of Post-Harvest Technology and Management, Killa-Roha. Dist: Raigad (Maharashtra State) (Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli-Campus Roha) India *Corresponding author: swami_shrikant1975@yahoo.co.in
Online Published on 08 March, 2024. Abstract Paneer is similar to tofu is most popular indigenous dairy product which is also identified as South Asian variety of soft cheese obtained by acid and heat coagulation it is similar to unripe variety of soft cheese which is used in preparation of different culinary dishes and snacks. It is a rich source of high quality animal protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. Paneer is marble white appearance having firm, cohesive and spongy body with a close knit texture and a sweetish acidic nutty flavor. About 4-5 % of the total milk produced in India is converted into paneer. Annual production of paneer is estimated at 0.2 million tones having the market value of  18 × 109. It is confined to unorganized sector. Now a day it is possible to manufacture paneer by using different types of milk along with different composition like cow milk, buffalo milk, got milk, or blends of these milks, skimmed milk whole milk, butter milk. Along with cow and buffalo milk the paneer is also prepared from soymilk, groundnut milk, peas milk, blends of soy-cow milk, soy-buffalo milk, flavored tofu by incorporating carrot, soy-groundnut milk and spices incorporation and different techniques have been developed for the production of paneer as per requirement of the consumer with appreciable improvement in yield and other quality characteristics such as physiochemical microbiological and sensory quality of the product. The chhana, a het-acid coagulated product of milk, is used as base material for production of paneer. For production of chhana, milk is heated to near a boiling temperature, followed by cooling and coagulation at 70-75°C by using 1-2% citric acid, calcium sulphate and magnesium chloride as a coagulants or sour whey. Free whey is drain off to obtain coagulum further, coagulum is pressed to get firm, cohesive and spongy body paneer. Paneer block of required size are packed in laminated plastic pouches, preferably vacuum packaged, heat sealed and stored under refrigeration. Paneer keeps well for about a day at ambient temperature and for about a week under refrigeration (7°C), through its freshness lost within 3 days. The spoilage of paneer is mainly due to bacterial action. Hence, to increase the shelf-life and storability of paneer the paneer is incorporated with spices like turmeric, clove, cinnamon, black papper and cardmom which helps in enhancing shelf-life of paneer. Among the spices studied cardmom was found to be the best spices to improve shelf-life of paneer up to 28 days of storage at 7± 1°C. Microwave convective drying of paneer also helps in enhancing self-life up to 118 days along with good color, rehydration ratio without appreciable loss of quality in HDPP pouches under acceleration condition of storage (38±2°C, 90% RH). Top Keywords Paneer, Soymilk, Groundnut milk, Chhana, Calcium Sulphate, Magnesium Chloride, Spices, Microwave convective dryer, Packaging, Shelf-life, Coagulant, Preservatives, Sensory quality. Top |