Extraction of Antioxidants from Fruit Peels and its Utilization in Paneer

Natural antioxidants have gained considerable interest in recent years for their role in preventing the auto oxidation of fats, oils and fat containing food products. In the present study, peels of pomegranate, lemon and orange were used as sources of natural antioxidants. Among the three extracts pomegranate exhibited a high percentage of antioxidant activity and phenolic content of 92.7%, 249.41 mg/g in comparison to lemon and orange peel extract. Maximum total phenolic content was found in lemon extract (0.9 mg/g). Paneer samples prepared by addition of natural antioxidant extracts from these peels where subjected to sensory studies which showed that the extracts at the level of 2% was acceptable and had greater ability to prevent peroxide formation. The ability to prevent peroxide formation in paneer sample was in the order of pomegranate peel> lemon peel> orange peel.