Studies on Microbiological Quality of Paneer Sold in various Zones of Maharashtra

Author: Ranjan B. Yedatkar, Vasant V. Niras, Anand R. Sarode, Shital S. Deosarkar, Shrikant D. Kalyanka and Chandrapakash D. Khedkar

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Abstract

India is a rapidly growing dairy product market, where in paneer market is growing at the rate of 8% with annual consumption of over 20,000 tons of paneer. Paneer has moisture content of 40-60%, protein biological value of 80-86 and protein content of 15-20%, and fat of 16-20% with rich source of minerals like calcium. Under refrigeration condition paneer has a shelf life of 2-3 days thereafter freshness of the product is lost. Therefore the present investigation was planned and executed to ascertain the microbiological quality of Paneer sold in four zones of Maharashtra, viz. Marathwada, Vidarbha, Western Maharashtra and North Maharashtra. Fifteen Paneer samples were procured in each of the three seasons from each of the four zones during 2020-21. Immediately after procurement the samples were aseptically packed, suitably labelled and stored under icepacks and brought to the laboratory for its further analysis. The data on microbiological quality was categorized season-wise. The counts of aerobes, coliforms, Staphylococci, yeast and moulds and Escherichia were estimated. It was observed that the highest counts of the test organisms were observed in all the four zones in the samples collected during February to May and the lowest counts were recorded during October to January. It was observed that the highest average aerobic counts were recorded in North Maharashtra (93.21×105 cfu/g); the highest average coliform counts of 9.7 cfu/g were observed in Western Maharashtra; the staphylococci counts of 97.81 cfu/g and Yeast and mould counts of 188.91 cfu/g were reported in Marathwada. The highest average Escherichia coli counts of 5.44 cfu/g were recorded in Marathwada during Feb-May. The results on microbiological quality of Paneer sold in the four zones of Maharashtra reveals that the microbiological quality of Paneer sold in the state is well within the standards specified by the FSSR, 2011. It is concluded that the awareness campaigns about the hygienic practices implemented by various dairies and the authorities resulted into quantum improvement in the microbiological quality of dairy products like Paneer sold in the State.

Keywords

Paneer, Microbiology of paneer, FSSAI, Milk

Conclusion

It is concluded that the microbial counts of the target five groups of organisms reported in the Paneer samples procured randomly from twenty two districts under five zones of Maharashtra during three seasons are well within the prescribed limits by the Regulatory Authorities.

References

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How to cite this article

Ranjan B. Yedatkar, Vasant V. Niras, Anand R. Sarode, Shital S. Deosarkar, Shrikant D. Kalyanka and Chandrapakash D. Khedkar (2023). Studies on Microbiological Quality of Paneer Sold in various Zones of Maharashtra. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(1): 392-395.