The investigation studied the effect of sour fruit juices as coagulants on the physico-chemical properties, phytonutrients, sensory scores, texture profile analysis (TPA) and microstructure using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of paneer. Paneer was coagulated using citric acid solution (control), lemon or amla juice. The total solids and protein recovery were higher using amla juice while fat recovery was more in control than with the other two coagulants. The mineral profile indicated that calcium content was higher in lemon and amla paneer than citric whereas sodium was highest in citric sample. Paneer collected using fruit juices exhibited higher quantity of functional components studied i.e. antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid, total phenols and tannins than control. Also, it scored high for sensory attributes of appearance/color, body and texture, mouthfeel, flavor and overall acceptability but exhibited disparate values for TPA (hardness, adhesiveness, gumminess and resilience) and discrete structures under SEM.
Keywords: Fruit acidulants; Mineral profile; Paneer; Phytochemical; SEM; Sensory score; TPA.