Production and characterization of soft Sardaigne-type cheese by using almond gum as a functional additive

Hanen Ghamgui; Fatma Bouaziz; Fakher Frikha; Fatma Châari; Semia Ellouze-Chaâbouni

doi:10.1002/fsn3.2170

Production and characterization of soft Sardaigne-type cheese by using almond gum as a functional additive

Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Feb 20;9(4):2032-2041. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.2170. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Authors

Hanen Ghamgui^{1

2}, Fatma Bouaziz¹, Fakher Frikha^{2

3}, Fatma Châari¹, Semia Ellouze-Chaâbouni^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire d'Amélioration des Plantes et Valorisation des Agroressources National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS) Sfax University Sfax Tunisia.
² Laboratory of Biochemistry and Enzymatic Engineering of Lipases ENIS Sfax Tunisia.
³ Department of Life Sciences Faculty of Science of Sfax Sfax Tunisia.
⁴ Unité de service commun bioréacteur couplé à un ultrafiltre Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Sfax Université de Sfax Sfax Tunisia.

Abstract

The effect of almond gum (AG), as natural polysaccharide with high nutritional value and important functional properties, on physicochemical and textural characteristics of Sardaigne-type cheese was investigated. Response surface methodology (RSM) using Box-Behnken design was applied to determine optimal levels of three selected processing variables such as coagulation temperature (25-45°C), stirring period (20-30 min), and AG concentration (0.25%-0.75%). A 3-level factorial design was employed to evaluate physicochemical and rheological responses of Sardaigne-type cheese with AG added. The P-values of ANOVA indicated that the processing variables selected have significantly affected dry matter content (p = .002), cheese yield (p = .0172), syneresis level (p = .0135), hardness (p = .0103), and adhesiveness (p = .0410). However, pH, cohesiveness, and elasticity are not affected by the selected processing variables. Predictive regression equations with a high coefficient of (R ² ≥ .686) determination are constructed. The addition of AG owing to its water retention property has improved yield cheese as well moisture level. Therefore, this additional moisture in Sardaigne-type cheese will be responsible for softer and smoother textural. Indeed, fivefold drop of adhesiveness and fourfold reduction of hardness are observed in cheese formulated with AG at 0.75% and in same temperature and stirring period conditions that commercial cheese. RSM analysis showed that optimum levels of processing variables are reached at AG concentration of 0.57% (w/v), coagulation temperature of 42.57°C, and stirring period of 20 min. Results of sensory properties showed that AG incorporation in Sardaigne-type cheese does not have an adverse impact on organoleptically characteristics and overall acceptability of product was better than commercial cheese.

Keywords: almond gum; physicochemical; response surface methodology; sensory properties; soft sardaigne‐type cheese; textural properties.