STUDIES ON WHEY DRAINAGE CHARACTERISTICS DURING PANEER PRODUCTION
Loading...
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL
Abstract
Paneer is a heat acid coagulated popular indigenous product of India. Traditional paneer
production process involves applying weight for whey removal which requires around 30-60
minutes. Pneumatic based pressing systems are available which can perform pressing in shorter
time 10-15 min, but they are of large capacity and requires additional equipment like
compressor, air filter, compressed air pipelines and control unit. In the present research work,
whey drainage characteristic during conventional and centrifugal process during paneer
production process was determined. The process parameters for centrifugal process were spin
speed (300, 400 and 500 rpm) and spin time (5, 10 and 15 min). The moisture content in paneer
was in the range of 47.62-54.56 %, 46.4-52.22 % and 44.78-51.08 % for different spin speeds
300, 400 and 500 rpm, respectively. One of the limitations of this method was in obtaining
paneer block of definite shape and size. Two hoop configurations (cylindrical and square) were
designed, fabricated and integrated with the rapid whey removal system. For performance
evaluation experiments were designed using response surface methodology with two factors
milk quantity (5-10 kg) and spin time (2-10 min). The various responses studied were moisture
content % (top, middle and bottom layer), yield (%), geometrical parameters, colour attributes
(CIE L*, a*, b* and whiteness index) and textural parameters (Hardness, Adhesiveness,
Springiness, Cohesiveness, Gumminess, Chewiness and Resilience). Optimum spin time for
paneer production using rapid whey removal system was 2.5 min. It was established that
paneer pressing can alternatively be carried out using centrifugal method and both cylinder and
square hoops were found suitable.