Innovative Covering Liquids Stabilising Water-Fat Leachate from Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Used as Pizza Topping.

This study analyses the possibility of changing the composition of the covering liquid in which mozzarella cheese is stored. The characterisation of mozzarella cheese consumed fresh and during later culinary use as a pizza topping was carried out. Mozzarella cheese from cow's milk and reconstituted sheep's milk were used for this study. The cheese was stored in whey-based covering liquid to which single or double amounts of lactose and/or citric acid (w/w) were added. The results obtained during laboratory analysis showed that the addition of lactose and/or citric acid to the covering liquid significantly impacted the mass of the cheese and the changes that can occur during later culinary use. The observed changes in the cheese during storage in the covering liquid were confirmed by the characteristics of the liquid itself. The smallest mass changes were related to cheeses stored in a covering liquid with double the amount of lactose and a single amount of citric acid. This cheese also displayed positive changes in all assessed descriptors (texture, melt, and colour). The amount of leachate from the cheese was small and occurred relatively late after unpacking and quartering. Based on the results of the study, changes made to the composition of the covering liquids can positively affect the characteristics of mozzarella cheese. Additionally, this data allows for the creation of specialised mozzarella cheeses that can pique the consumer's interest.

Foaming and Other Functional Properties of Freeze-Dried Mare's Milk.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the freeze-drying process on the preservation of mare's milk. This was achieved through the characterization of the functional properties of reconstituted freeze-dried mare's milk. The chemical composition, bulk density, foam capacity, and ability to form emulsions of the atherogenic, thrombogenic, and hypercholesterolemic fatty acid index were investigated. The freeze-drying process did not change the proportion of the milk components in the dry matter. The moisture content of the freeze-dried mare's milk was 10.3 g/kg and the bulk was below 0.1 g/mL. The foaming capacity was 111.3%; hence, the foaming capacity of the milk was very poor. The oil binding capacity was 2.19 g/g of protein. The freeze-drying process improves the binding degree and retention of oil by milk proteins, but produced foam was unstable, short-lived, and lacked the ability to retain air fractions. The atherogenic index and thrombogenic index values calculated for reconstituted milk were 1.02 and 0.53, respectively. The hypercholesterolemia fatty acid index was 25.01.

Production of Sensorily Acceptable Pasta Filata Cheese with Partial Substitution of Sheep's Milk Powder in Different Forms.

The presented study analyzed the possibility of pasta filata cheese production using sheep's milk powder in different forms and substitution amounts with fresh cow's milk. For the production of the pasta filata cheeses that were analyzed in the research, sheep's milk powder and reconstituted sheep's milk were used for partial substitution with fresh cow's milk in the amount of approx. 20, 30 and 40 percent (v/v). The obtained results showed that the more sheep's milk in the form of powder in the mixture, the lower the cheese's moisture content. The fat and protein content in the whey after the production of cheeses from mixtures was lower than after the production of cheeses from reconstituted sheep's milk only. Cheeses produced entirely from reconstituted sheep's milk displayed the highest fat loss. The greatest cheese yield was observed for cheeses from mixtures with sheep's milk powder and entirely from reconstituted sheep's milk. Pasta filata cheeses made from a mixture of cow's milk and sheep's milk powder that was not reconstituted were much less acceptable to consumers than reconstituted milk powder cheeses, especially those with 40% and 30% added powder. Sensory profile analysis showed that the addition of sheep's milk to the mixture, regardless of the form, affected the appearance, consistency, and flavor of the produced pasta filata cheeses. Mixing cow's milk with sheep's milk powder created the possibility of modeling the final cheese quality and yield.

Whey proteins as a functional food: Health effects, functional properties, and applications in food.

Functional foods are defined as foods and ingredients that exhibit health benefits beyond their nutritional value. Research on functional foods is increasing rapidly as they may help prevent and manage some non-communicable diseases. Whey proteins are recognized as a high-quality nutrient source and known to contain some bioactive components. They are rich in essential amino acids such as cysteine, branched-chain amino acids such as leucine, valine, and isoleucine, and bioactive peptides. Whey proteins look promising as a potential functional food, given its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, blood pressure lowering, anti-obesity, and appetite suppressing effects that is discussed in the literature. Whey proteins also show functional properties that play an essential role in food processing as an emulsifier, fat-replacer, gelling and encapsulating agent and are known to improve sensory and textural characteristics of food. This review focuses on the functional food aspects of whey proteins, associated health effects, and current food applications.

Current literature suggests the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and blood-pressure-lowering effects of whey proteins.Whey proteins are rich in essential amino acids and bioactive peptides.Whey proteins can improve textural and sensory characteristics of food with its physiochemical properties.Developing a novel functional food that includes whey proteins may potentially address some non-communicable diseases and may have additional benefits regarding sensory and textural characteristics.

Determinants of the attitudes of proinnovative dairy consumers and a model simulating consumer behavior regarding increasing calcium intake.

OBJECTIVE: A study was carried out to identify characteristics of consumers of dairy products. METHODS: Based on a questionnaire with 127 participants, aged 22 to 52, a simulation model was developed, taking into account factors influencing the development of health-seeking behavior. RESULTS: A relationship was found between consumer proinnovative attitude, actual prohealth behavior, and characteristics of the consumer influencing the consumption of calcium. Prohealth behavior (knowledge and application of the principles of healthy eating) is mainly influenced by material situation, age, and gender of the consumer. It has been reported that only 25% of parents talk to their children about the principles of healthy eating. No relationship was found between prohealth and proinnovation behaviors and level of education, sports activity, or number of children in the family. CONCLUSIONS: Among young people, as many as 39% do not follow the principles of healthy eating, and these are mainly women. Respondents' proinnovative attitudes and social status were conducive to increasing calcium intake and correlate with greater diversity in the consumption of dairy products. The Pearson correlation coefficient between body mass index and calcium intake was not significant (r = -0.03; P = 0.76).

Effects of Heat Treatment Duration on the Electrical Properties, Texture and Color of Polymerized Whey Protein.

In this research effects of heat treatment duration on the electrical properties (zeta potential and conductivity), texture and color of polymerized whey protein (PWP) were analyzed. Whey protein solutions were heated for 30 min to obtain single-heated polymerized whey protein (SPWP). After cooling to room temperature, the process was repeated to obtain double-heated polymerized whey protein (DPWP). The largest agglomeration was demonstrated after 10 min of single-heating (zeta potential recorded as -13.3 mV). Single-heating decreased conductivity by 68% and the next heating cycle by 54%. As the heating time increased, there was a significant increase in the firmness of the heated solutions. Zeta potential of the polymerized whey protein correlated with firmness, consistency, and index of viscosity, the latter of which was higher when the zeta potential (r = 0.544) and particle size (r = 0.567) increased. However, there was no correlation between zeta potential and color. This research has implications for future use of PWP in the dairy industry to improve the syneretic, textural, and sensory properties of dairy products.

Effect of Packaging and Portioning on the Dynamics of Water-Fat Serum Release from Fresh Pasta Filata Soft Cheese.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of cheese fragmentation and packaging on the dynamics of water-fat serum released from pasta filata cheese made from cow's milk and its mixture with sheep's milk. The addition of sheep's milk reduced the amount of leachate from the vacuum-packed cheeses and did not cause as much loss of gloss as in the case of cow's milk cheeses. This was also reflected in the microscopic images of the cheese samples. Consumers showed less acceptance of cow's milk pasta filata cheeses than cheeses made with a mixture of cow's and sheep's milk (they had the same fat content, acidity, hardness, and oiling-off, but better stretching). The data describing water-fat serum release from pasta filata cheese within 24 h of unpacking was modeled with the use of the feed-forward artificial neural networks, whose architecture is based on Multi-Layer Perceptron with a single hidden layer. The model inputs comprised four independent variables, including one quantitative (i.e., time) and the other qualitative ones, which had the following states: type of raw material (cow's milk, cow-sheep's milk), way of sample portioning (whole, quarters, slices), packing method (vacuum packed and packed in brine).

Effect of honeydew honey addition on the water activity and water holding capacity of kefir in the context of its sensory acceptability.

The aim of the research was to check how the addition of honeydew honey and various compositions of starter cultures affects the water holding capacity, water activity, color, syneresis and consistency of the obtained kefir in the context of its sensory acceptability. In this research, 2.5% and 5% (w/w) honeydew honey was added to the samples of model kefir (K) and commercial kefir (K13). Kefirs differed by the type of used starter cultures and conditions of production. The addition of honeydew honey to kefir resulted in increased water holding capacity and a reduction in water activity. Honeydew honey kefir was characterized by the following flavor: astringent, fruity, pungent and waxy. As the honey content increased, the taste and waxy flavor became sweeter. In the sensory assessment, the attributes of texture and mouthfeel, creaminess, density and firmness, do not change because of the honey amount or storage time of the samples. The use of different starter cultures in kefir production with the addition of honeydew honey impacted texture parameters, resulting in up to a 4.8-fold increased viscosity index.

The Effect of Freezing Sheep's Milk on the Meltability, Texture, Melting and Fat Crystallization Profiles of Fresh Pasta Filata Cheese.

Sheep's milk is produced in smallholdings, which hinders the continuity of production. Therefore, freezing during periods of high production can be a solution. Herein, we examined the effect of freezing on sheep's milk and a mixture of sheep and cow's milk (70:30, v/v) on the quality of fresh pasta filata cheeses produced from the milk. Frozen/thawed sheep's milk contributes little to the development of innovative and reformulated cheeses. This was due to 24% higher hardness and greater extensibility and cutting force, as well as lower stretching and elasticity. Although their flowability increased (Oiling-off from 3 to 12%), the meltability (tube test, and Schreiber test) decreased. Additionally, the use of frozen milk caused consumer dissatisfaction. The consumer penalty analysis of the just-about-right showed that freezing of the milk caused the loss of the refreshing, elasticity and shininess of pasta filata cheeses.

Color Stability of Fermented Mare's Milk and a Fermented Beverage from Cow's Milk Adapted to Mare's Milk Composition.

Color is important for the consumer when making a purchase decision. Mare's milk and, thus, fermented mare's milk is little known to consumers. Thus, it is worth presenting research showing the extent of color change during the production and storage of mare's milk. Herein, we examined the range of color changes in mare's milk and cow's milks adapted to mare's milk composition. These samples were further fermented and stored for 3 weeks at 5 ± 1 °C. Starter cultures containing Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus were used for fermentation. Mare's milk reached the required pH of 4.5 during fermentation faster (255 min) than cow's milk (300 min). After fermentation, mare's milk compared to cow's milk and adapted cow's milk had lower titratable acidity (0.75%) and firmness (145. 6 |(g∙s)|). The water holding capacity (95.6%) and number of Lactobacillus (7.71 log CFU/mL) and Streptocococcus (7.20 log CFU/mL) in mare's and other's milks were the same. Mare's milk was furthest from the ideal white (WI) color, with its chrome (C*) being 1.5-times larger than cow's milk. However, fermented mare's milk was darker than the fermented adapted milk and cow's milk by 36% and 58%, respectively. Storage caused a decrease in the WI, C*, and yellowness index (YI). The fermented mare's milk color stability during production and storage was less than that of fermented cow's milk. After 3 weeks storage, it was observed that the titratable acidity increased to 1.05%, and the pH decreased to 4.3 in fermented mare's milk. The water holding capacity decreased but was still higher compared to fermented cow's milk.

Kinetics of lactose hydrolysis and galactooligosaccharides formation in beverages based on goat's milk and its permeate.

The aim of this work was the analysis of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) formation in a model mixture of goat's milk and its permeate from microfiltration and further concentration by ultrafiltration based on the hydrolysis and transgalactosylation of lactose under various temperature and time regimes. These reactions were catalyzed by a ß-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis. Simultaneous hydrolysis and transgalactosylation of the milk lactose was carried out at 37, 40, and 43 °C for 6 h. The maximum GOS content in the mixture was obtained at 37 °C after 20 min. It was 6.9% of the total sugars and the degree of lactose hydrolysis was 13.3%. This was about 10% more GOS than in milk. The mixture containing GOS had a faster maximum acidification rate, 33% greater than before transgalactosylation.

Storage Stability of Texture and Sensory Properties of Yogurt with the Addition of Polymerized Whey Proteins.

Herein, we examined the possibility of producing probiotic yogurt with the addition of polymerized whey protein (PWP). It was determined that the yogurt was stable in terms of syneresis, texture, and sensory features. No spontaneous whey syneresis (SWS) was found in PWP yogurt during 21 days of refrigerated storage at 3 ± 0.5 °C. PWP yogurt had a 5.3% higher water retention capacity (WHC) than yogurt with whey protein concentrate (WPC). Compared with yogurt with unpolymerized protein, PWP yogurt had a higher absolute cohesiveness and viscosity index. The addition of whey protein concentrates to native and polymerized form resulted in longer maintenance of the original yogurt coherence than the control yogurt during storage. PWP yogurt had the same color saturation as the control yogurt. The polymerization of whey proteins resulted in a vanilla pudding aftertaste in yogurt and increased butter flavor 2.5-fold.

Evaluation of quality of kefir from milk obtained from goats supplemented with a diet rich in bioactive compounds.

BACKGROUND: The composition of bioactive components in dairy products depends on their content in raw milk and the processing conditions. The experimental material consisted of the milk of dairy goats supplemented with 120 g d(-1) per head of false flax cake. The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of kefir produced from goat's milk with a higher content of bioactive components resulting from supplementation of the goats' diet with false flax cake. RESULTS: The administration of false flax cake to goats had a positive effect on the fatty acid profile of the raw milk, causing an increase in the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and n-3 fatty acids. Their increased percentage was detected in the kefir after production as well as after storage. The processing value of the harvested milk did not differ from the qualitative characteristics of milk from goats of the control group. Increasing the proportion of bioactive components in goat's milk did not result in changes in the acidity, texture, colour, flavour, aroma or consistency of the kefir obtained. CONCLUSION: Milk and kefir obtained after the administration of false flax cake to goats contain bioactive components (PUFA including CLA, n-3 and monoenic trans fatty acids) in significant amounts. Kefir from experimental goat's milk did not differ in quality from kefir made from the milk of the control group.

Effect of technological factors on water activity of extruded corn product with an addition of whey proteins.

BACKGROUND: The value of water activity in extruded products constitutes a significant indicator of their quality and stability. The state, in which water is found in extruded products, is an indicator of the conducted extrusion process and the used raw material. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The aim of the study was to assess water activity in extruded products made from a mixture of com grits with 12.5 and 15.0% moisture contents and different level of addition of whey proteins. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: It was shown that the degree of mixture moisture content did not have an effect on the value of aw in produced puffs. The greatest difference was recorded when introducing 3% proteins in comparison to aw of puffs produced solely from corn grits. Δaw = 0.023. The greater the content of whey proteins, the lower the aw value. A 3-month storage at a temperature of 18 ±0.5°C influenced aw of snacks produced from a mixture with a higher moisture content.