Effect of frying, freezing and rehydration on texture profile of Paneer and relationships between its instrumental and sensory textural attributes

The effect of frying, freezing and rehydration on texture profile, and relationships between sensory and instrumental textural descriptors of Paneer, a heat and acid coagulated Indian indigenous dairy product were investigated. Frying led to significant (p < 0.05) increase in all the solid constituents and values of most of the textural profile parameters. Frying removed Paneer's adhesiveness, but imparted fracturability to the product. Rehydration of fried Paneer by cooking in salt solution significantly decreased all the instrumental textural values except cohesiveness. Preceding or succeeding the freezing process to that of frying significantly affected the total solid content and most of the instrumental textural attributes but had no definite effect on sensory textural attributes of rehydrated Paneer except on gumminess. Though sensory textural parameters exhibited significant correlations with instrumental measurements, the former was more efficient in registering changes in brittleness and stickiness attributes. The interrelationships between instrumental and sensory texture profile parameters indicated the possibility of adapting instrumental method for evaluating the texture profile of Paneer to facilitate regular quality assurance purposes, as it is less time consuming.