Vol. 9, Issue 10, Part I (2025)

The functional value of Paneer was improved by wrapping it with chitosan based edible films incorporated with different levels of microencapsulated oregano essential oil (OEO) powder. The paneer samples-control I (Raw), control II (LDPE-packed) and treatments T₁ (0.5%), T₂ (1%), T₃ (1.5%) and T₄ (2%) oregano essential oil films were stored at 4±1 °C to study their quality behaviour for a period of 15 days. The pH, water activity, moisture, DPPH and ABTS showed significant decrease with advancement of storage while as the protein, fat and TBARS showed significant increase with advancement of storage. The standard plate count and yeast and mold count showed significant increase from day 0 to day 15. Coliforms were not detected throughout the entire storage period. However, the values of microbial counts were within acceptable limits upto day 10 of storage period. Although the sensory scores decreased with storage period for all attributes, but remained acceptable upto day 10. Thus, it was concluded that chitosan based oregano essential oil films efficiently improved the functional value of paneer without affecting its storage stability for atleast 10 days at refrigeration temperature.