Optimization of ingredients and selected processing parameters for development of coconut flavoured Paneer-like soft cheese

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to develop a coconut flavoured paneer-like soft cheese using milk and coconut milk solids to attain value-addition of paneer by utilizing shelf stable derivative of coconut milk. To optimize level of ingredients and a few processing parameters, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used. The independent variables selected were Fat/MSNF ratio of milk (0.23 – 0.35), rate of addition of coconut milk powder (7 – 9% w/w of milk), rate of addition of calcium chloride (20 – 30 g/100 kg milk) and coagulation temperature (70–80 0C). Optimized solution with a desirability of 0.939 was given by a combination of fat to MSNF ratio of 0.31, 7.0% w/w of milk of coconut milk powder, 30.0 g/100kg of calcium chloride and coagulation temperature of 80 0C. At the optimized solution, the values of the responses were 45.1 flavour score, 31.8 body & texture score, 9.2 colour & appearance score, 91.2 total score, 27.24 Nmm chewiness,0.386 cohesiveness, 10.69 N hardness, 52.45% moisture and 27.86% fat. Fatty acid profile of the developed product revealed that the highest concentration was exhibited by Lauric acid (31.19%) followed by Palmitic acid (16.47%).