Nutritional value and organoleptic assessment of traditionally smoked cheeses made from goat, sheep and cow's milk.

The use of small ruminant milk for smoked cheese production makes it possible to incorporate valuable nutrients into the diet, especially as the consumption of unprocessed sheep or goat's milk is low compared to that from cows. Smoking of food not only prolongs its shelf-life but also improves its flavour. Taking the fact that many consumers do not accept some organoleptic properties of milk from small ruminants into account, the aim of the study was to assess and compare the organoleptic and nutritional properties of traditionally smoked cheeses made from goat, sheep and cow's milk. The analysed cheeses differed in terms of dry matter content and its components such as protein and fat. Their acidity was comparable, except for the sample made of raw goat's milk, which was characterised by a relatively high pH value (6.12 ± 0.06). The highest content of CLA (2.30 ± 0.04%), as well as the highest share of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, was determined in the cheese made from sheep's milk. Moreover, the content of butyric and caproic free fatty acids in cheeses made from goat's milk was found to be several times higher than in the other analysed cheeses. The organoleptic assessment did not reveal any significant differences between the cheeses produced at small, private farms and in industrial conditions, or between different types of cheese, regardless of the type of milk from which they were produced.

The impact of LED lighting on the yield, morphological structure and some bioactive components in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) sprouts.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of selected types of LED (light emitting diodes) lighting on the quality of alfalfa sprouts. In the experiment, cold white, warm white and multicolour: (red, green, blue-RGB) LEDs were applied, and dispersed sunlight was used as a control. The product was examined for the yield and the contents of dry matter, total polyphenols, ascorbic acid, chlorophylls, ß-carotene, lutein, neoxanthin and violaxanthin. Cotyledons' mass in the whole plant increased under LED illumination and was up to 50% greater for sprouts grown in RGB light compared to those cultivated in dispersed sunlight. The highest chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment contents in cotyledons were observed under RGB LED and cold white treatments. Similarly, RGB LEDs allows one to obtain the product with the highest level of total phenolic compounds. The highest ascorbic acid content was observed in sprouts growing under sunlight, followed by RGB.

The effect of hyaluronic acid addition on the properties of smoked homogenised sausages.

BACKGROUND: This research studied the possibility of using hyaluronic acid (HA) as a food additive for meat emulsions to create a novel functional food with improved rheological and water binding properties. Sausages with 200 and 500 g kg-1 water addition were supplemented with 0, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 g kg-1 of HA and stored for 14 days in vacuum. Rheology, texture, weight losses, proximate composition and microbiological analyses were performed together with the sensory evaluation of produced sausages. RESULTS: Surprisingly, the results show that the addition of 0.05 and 0.1 g kg-1 HA reduced yield and the stability of meat emulsion by causing water outflow from the product and decreased the sensory scores of the produced sausages. The sausage with 500 g kg-1 water and 0.01 g kg-1 HA addition was the only economically viable option for introducing the product on the market. CONCLUSION: HA has a potential of being a perfect functional food additive for meat industry, although further research regarding processing conditions should be performed. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influence of milk protein cross-linking by transglutaminase on the rennet coagulation time and the gel properties.

BACKGROUND: Transglutaminase (TGase) modifies milk proteins by cross-linking of caseins, with increased cheese yield being the main technological benefit. In the present work the influence of TGase addition in different concentrations (0, 1, 2 and 3 U g(-1) protein in the system) and under different incubation conditions (0 h, 40 °C/2 h, 25 °C/4 h and 5 °C/16 h) on the rennet coagulation time (RCT) and the comprehensive rennet gel properties were investigated. RESULTS: Modification of milk proteins by TGase in a concentration-dependent manner caused longer RCT and lower gel firmness. The highest TGase concentration and incubation at 40 °C for 2 h resulted in the longest RCT and the lowest gel firmness. Rennet gels obtained from TGase modified milk were characterised by significantly lower values of texture parameters, lower syneresis and were composed of smaller casein micelles, thinner chains and smaller clusters than those obtained from the control milk. The content of whey proteins in the gel from modified milk was higher and the content of individual casein fractions in the milk samples and rennet gels decreased upon TGase modification. CONCLUSION: Rennet cheese with modified textural and nutritional properties and improved yield can be obtained upon TGase modification but simultaneous addition of rennet and TGase is recommended. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.