Thyme essential oil was tested for its relative efficiency in improving the shelf life of paneer. The physico-chemical and biofunctional properties of thyme essential oil were evaluated. The total polyphenolic value and thymol content of essential oil was 98.19 mg/g GAE and 31.30% respectively. The essential oil was also found to have exceptional antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The percentage radical scavenging activity of essential oil was found to be 57.80% RSA at 1 g/L concentration. The antimicrobial properties of the essential oil were assessed against three indicator organisms, namely Serratia marcescens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, by agar-well diffusion assay. The essential oil exhibited inhibitory action against all of the organisms. Thyme essential oil at different concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 1% v/v was added to buffalo milk treated with beta-cyclodextrin for the preparation of low cholesterol paneer. Out of eleven treatments, paneer prepared from milk treated with 0.1 and 0.05% thyme essential oil had the highest sensory score. These paneer samples had an antioxidant activity of 57.74 and 31.93% RSA, respectively. Therefore, the optimum level of addition of thyme essential oil was fixed at 0.1%. Optimized and control paneer were packaged in LDPE pouches and subjected to shelf-life studies under refrigerated conditions. The functional paneer showed a shelf life of 17 days, while for control, it was 11 days

Low cholesterol paneer, shelf life enhancement, thyme essential oil

Low cholesterol paneer with prolonged shelf life was prepared from buffalo milk treated with β-cyclodextrin, with the addition of thyme essential oil. It was found that the addition of 0.1 % of the same had the highest sensorial quality. Low cholesterol paneer with prolonged shelf life showed no significant difference in sensorial properties from that of control paneer. The shelf life was improved to 12 days, while control paneer had only 8 days of shelf life. For functional products like low cholesterol paneer, the shelf life enhancement is of importance from the technical as well as marketing point of view. It opens a wide window for a range of shelf life enhanced dairy products

Reji A.J., Divya M.P., Rajakumar S.N. and Rachana C.R. (2024). Enhancement of Shelf Life of Low Cholesterol Paneer using Thyme Essential Oil. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 16(9): 01-08