Paneer is obtained by heat treating milk followed by acid coagulation. A relatively shorter shelf
life of Paneer is considered to be a major hurdle in its production at commercial level. The
present study was conduct to determine antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus plantarum against
Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus and to study effect of Lactobacillus plantarum as
biopreservative in Paneer. The antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus plantarum against Escherichia
coli and Bacillus cereus was tested through Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and
Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) using microdilution well method. The effect of
Lactobacillus plantarum as biopreservative in Paneer was tested using total plate count method
based on time and temperature variation. Based on the result Lactobacillus plantarum can inhibit
both gram positive and gram-negative bacteria with smallest population 7.72x10
3
CFU/mL
(3.13%). The effect of Lactobacillus plantarum as biopreservative in Paneer using total plate count
method shows significant reduction in total colony forming unit(CFU) for Temperature (25 °C and
4 °C) and Time variation there was no colonies formed in sample inoculated with Lactobacillus
plantarum suspension. This suggests that Lactobacillus plantarum have potential antibacterial
activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus and hence it can be used as biopreservative to
extend shelf life of Paneer.