Utilization of Fermented Rice Milk as a Novel Coagulant for Development of Paneer (Soft Cheese)

In this study, fermented rice milk was used as a novel coagulant for a type of soft cheese named as paneer. Rice milk was produced by a wet milling system in a process where brown rice was first soaked in water at a ratio of 1:2 (w/w), then milled by micro wet milling. Rice milk was pasteurized and gelatinized followed by the saccharification and lactic acid fermentation process. Paneer was produced using whole dairy milk mixed with 10%, 20%, and 30% of simultaneous saccharified and fermented (SSF) rice milk as a coagulant, and was analyzed for its physicochemical, microbial, and sensory properties. The results indicated that fermented rice milk has constructive effects on the physicochemical properties, texture, and shelf life of paneer, as there were no obvious defects observed for up to 12 days of storage at 4 °C. The sensory evaluation revealed that the acceptability score of the samples containing rice milk reduced slightly compared to the control samples. No significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were observed among all the paneer samples incorporated with different percentages of rice milk, and the product was rated acceptable.