INFLUENCE OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING (MAP) AND STORAGE ON THE CHEMICAL QUALITY OF PANEER TIKKA
Veena Verma, G.K. Goyal and D.K. Bhatt INTRODUCTION Paneer is well known acid coagulated traditional dairy product and Tikka is a general South Asian term meaning marinated barbequed food. Paneer Tikka, which is very popular, is the nearest dish for vegetarians, and is quite close to tandoori chicken. It is highly rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre content, sulphur compounds, and is laxative in nature. It is extensively used as fast- food during get-togethers, marriage parties, birthday parties and also in restaurants. METHOD AND MATERIALS Preparartion of Paneer Tikka Preparation of Marinade For preparing marinade required for making Paneer Tikka from 3 kg of paneer, following ingredients were used: curd: 2 kg (hanged in muslin cloth for 1 hrs); cream: 150 kg; butter: 75 g; amchur powder: 20 g; red chilli powder: 20 g; chicken masala: 40 g; garam masala: 20 g; black salt: 30 g; table salt: 40 g; ginger garlic paste: 50 g; and food grade red colour: drops. All the above ingredients were kept in a clean plastic bowl, and converted into a homogeneous paste by using a clean long armed wooden ladle. Cutting of Paneer and Vegetables The paneer was cut into pieces of 2 square size. For making Paneer Tikka from 3 kg paneer, following vegetables after thorough cleaning and washing were used: capsicum: 500 g (cut into 1 size pieces); onion: 1 kg (cut into 4 pieces); tomato: 1 kg (cut into 4 pieces).
Int. J. of Food Science, Technology & Nutrition, Vol. 2 (2007), No. 2, 91-96 MD Publications Pvt Ltd
Veena Verma, G.K. Goyal and D.K. Bhatt
Marination All the pieces of paneer and vegetables were put in the plastic bowl containing marinade , and mixed gently by using wooden ladle. This mixture of Paneer Tikka was held at room temperature for 2 hrs, so that pieces of paneer and vegetables absorb the flavour of the marinade. Baking The baking of marinated paneer pieces and vegetables was achieved in a microwave oven (Samsung, Bio ceramic, Model CE118KF, 32 Lit capacity) preheated at 250C. First of all, the butter was applied on the wire rack to avoid stickiness, then pieces of paneer and vegetables were placed on wire rack, and baked at 250C for 20 m. Thereafter, the paneer and vegetable pieces were turned upside down and baking was repeated in microwave oven for another 15 m at 250C. The Paneer Tikka samples were then taken out from microwave oven, which after cooling at room temperature were used for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING OF PANEER TIKKA The freshly prepared Paneer Tikka samples (250 gm) were individually packed in sterilized high barrier packages (LLD/ BA/Nylon 6/ BA/ LDPE) (sterilized under UV-light for 30 m) under different atmospheres (atm), i.e. atmospheric air (atm1), vacuum (atm2), 100% CO2 (atm3) and 100% N2 (atm4) by using a vacuum chamber Quick 2000 machine (Alfa- Laval,Kramer Greber, GmbH & Co. KG Maschinefavrik, 3560 BiedelkopfWallan, Germany).The gases used were of industrial grade procured from the reputed supplier. The packaged samples were then stored at 7 10C. Packaging under modified atmospheres (Day, 1992) was done by using a vacuum chamber Quick 2000 machine (Alfa- Laval,Kramer Greber, GmbH & Co. KG Maschinefavrik, 3560 Biedelkopf- Wallan, Germany). CHEMICAL ANALYSIS The samples of Paneer Tikka for chemical analysis were prepared by following the procedure as recommended by Labuza and Schmidl (1985), i.e., by mixing whole sample followed by grinding to obtain a representative sample. The grinding of samples was performed in Philips make Food Processor. For determining the moisture content 3 g of the ground sample of Paneer Tikka was taken and proceeded further as per the procedure given in ICAR Bulletin No. 70 (1951). For determining the titratable acidity 10 g of the grounded sample of Paneer Tikka were dissolved in 100 ml of distilled water and filtered through filter paper Whatman

International Journal of Food Science, Technology & Nutrition
Influence of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) and Storage on the Chemical Quality of Paneer Tikka
No. 1. Ten ml of the aliquot was titrated against 0.1 N NaOH, using phenolphthalein as indicator. The acidity was expressed as percent lactic acid. For pH determination 20 ml of filterate was taken in a clean beaker and the pH was found out by using a pH meter, Model No. 420 A, Thermo Electron Corporation, U.S.A. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Freshly made Paneer Tikka samples were examined for their degree of deterioration during storage when packed in high barrier bags under different atmospheres (atm 1, atm 2, atm 3 and atm 4) and stored at 71 0C. MOISTURE CONTENT The changes in moisture content of Paneer Tikka samples packaged under 4 different atmospheres in high barrier bags and stored at 71 0C for specified period are shown in Fig 1.
Fig.1. Effect of MAP on the moisture content (%) of Paneer Tikka stored at 7 1C
On storage of Paneer Tikka, the maximum loss in moisture content after 7 days was observed in atm 1 followed by atm 2, atm 4 and atm 3, respectively in descending order. On storage for 21 days, the initial moisture content of 54.48 % decreased to 54.15 % (atm 2), 54.17 % (atm 4) and 54.19 % (atm 3), indicating that the minimum moisture loss had been with the samples packaged under 100 % CO2. These results are in agreement with the observations of Tanweer Alam (2004) and Preeti Singh (2006) respectively, who also observed that the minimum decrease in moisture content had been with the mozzarella cheese and pizza samples, packaged under 100% CO2 (atm 3) followed by samples packed under 100% N2 (atm 4).
TITRATABLE ACIDITY (TA) In Figure 2 are given the values for TA of Paneer Tikka packaged under four atmospheres and stored at 71 C. The mean value for TA (% lactic acid) of Paneer Tikka gradually increased from 1.06 to 1.18, 1.16, 1.10 and 1.13 in atm 1, atm 2, atm 3, and atm 4, respectively after 7 days of storage. Further storage up to 21 days revealed that the TA increased to 1.31,1.22 and 1.27 respectively in samples packaged under atm 2, atm3, and atm 4. The results showed minimum increase in TA in case of atm 3 (100 % CO2) followed by atm 4 (100% N2) and atm 2 (vacuum), respectively in the ascending order (Fig. 2), establishing a decisive role of CO2 towards acidity development. The results compare favourably with the findings of Alves et al. (1996) and Eliot et al. (1998) that mozzarella cheese samples packed under 100 % CO2 resulted in least increase in TA compared to samples packed in air, vacuum, or N2.

Fig. 2. Effect of MAP on the titratable acidity (%LA) of Paneer Tikka stored at 7 1C
pH Figure 3 indicates that the changes in pH of Paneer Tikka samples packaged under 4 different atmospheres and stored at 71 0C for specified periods. On storage of Paneer Tikka for 7 days, the pH decreased from 5.59 to 5.45, 5.47, 5.52 and 5.48, respectively in case of samples packaged under atm 1 (air), atm 2(vacuum), atm 3 (100 % CO2) and atm 4 (100 % N2). The pH further decreased to 5.34, 5.41 and 5.39 in case of atm 2, atm 3 and atm 4, respectively after 21 days of storage, indicating that the maximum decrease had been with the product packaged under vacuum, and the minimum decrease was observed
in samples packaged under 100% CO2. The results agree with the findings of Tanweer Alam (2004) who while working on the MAP of mozzarella cheese reported that the maximum decrease in the pH value had been in case of samples packed under atm 1 (air), followed by atm 2 (vacuum), atm 4(100 % N2) and atm 3 (100 % CO2). Asperger (1982) and Matteo et al. (1982) also reported the consistent decrease in pH during storage of mozzarella cheese.
Fig.3. Effect of MAP on pH of Paneer Tikka stored at 7 1C
CONCLUSION From the present study, it can be concluded that amongst 4 studied atmospheres, namely air (atm 1), vacuum (atm 2), 100% CO2 (atm 3) and 100 % N2 (atm 4) employed for the packaging of Paneer Tikka in high barrier bags, which consisted of LLD/ BA/Nylon 6/ BA/ LDPE, atm3 (100% CO2) was best, followed by atm 4 atm 2 atm 1, respectively in descending order, and may be used for packaging and storage of Paneer Tikka at 0C. REFERENCES
Alves, M. V. R., Sarantopoulos, C. I. G. D. L., Van Dender, A. G. F. and Faria, J. D. A. F. (1996) Stability of sliced mozzarella cheese in modified atmosphere packaging. J. Food Prot., 59 (8): 838-44. Asperger, H. (1982) Microbiological hygienic evaluation of mozzarella cheese. In: Arbeits tagling des Arbeitsgebiets lebensmittelhygiene. Duetsche vterinarmediziniscne Gessel- scaftev. 299 (Cited in Dairy Sci. Abstr., 45: 8727)

Day, B.P.F. (1992) Guidelines for the good manufacturing and handling of modified atmosphere packed food products, The Campden Food and Drink Research Association, Chipping Campden, U.K Technical Manual No. 34. Eliot, S. C., Vuillemard, J. C. and Emond, J. P. (1998) Stability of shredded mozzarella cheese under modified atmosphere packaging. J. Food Sci., 63 (6): 1075-80. I.C.A.R. Bulletin No. 70 (1951) Standard methods for the examination and analysis of milk and milk products other than ghee, Manager of publications, I.C.A.R., New Delhi. Labuza, T. P. and Schmidl, M. K. (1985) Accelerated Shelf life testing of foods. Food Technol., 39 (9): 57-62, 64, 134. Matteo, M. D., Chivvitti, D. I. and Addeo, F. (1982) Variation in the composition of mozzarella cheese during storage. Scienza & Technica Lattiero Casearia. 33: 197 (Cited in DSA 45: 1269). Preeti Singh (2006) Studies on the modified atmosphere packaging of pizza. Ph. D. Thesis submitted to NDRI (Deemed Univ.), Karnal, India. Tanweer Alam (2004) Studies on the modified atmosphere packaging of mozzarella cheese. Ph. D. Thesis submitted to NDRI (Deemed Univ.), Karnal, India.
About the Authors Veena Verma Institute of Food Technology, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi- D.K. Bhatt Institute of Food Technology, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi- G.K. Goyal Food Packaging Lab., Dairy Technology Div., NDRI, Karnal-132 001