Study on preservative effect of Marigold flower (Tagetes. erecta) on Paneer

Dr. Noopur Gautam and Tarannum Parveen

INSTITUE OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Marigold flower grown worldwide is a native of North America. In India, African marigold (Tagetes. erecta) is widely grown for variety of purpose like- religious decoration, festive ceremony and also for food color, pest control, essential oils and as condiments. The essential oils have properties like antibiotic, antimicrobial, ant-parasitic and antiseptic. Dasgupta, et.al 2012, stated the antibacterial effect of marigold leaf extract of T. erectus against  ten gram-positive bacteria and six gram-negative bacteria at room temperature.

The present case was studied for the preservative effects of petal/ leaf extract of T.erectus on paneer made from buffalo milk. The petal extract of 50mg/ml concentration was prepared in water using distillation process. Samples of paneer were prepared by adding 1mg/ml, 2mg/ml and 5mg/ml of petal extract in 50gms of paneer. The three samples were stored at 4 degree centigrade temperature along with control for 14 days. Microbial and sensory evaluation was carried out on 0 day, 3 day, 5day, 7 day, 10 days and 14 days. It was observed that the shelf life of sample with petal concentration of 2mg/ml was extended from 7 days to 14 days without any alteration on sensory aspect of paneer. Hence proved that Marigold petal extract can be used as natural preservative in foods.