The development of functional foods in the dairy sector represents a flourishing field of technological research. In this study, an Italian fresh cheese as "giuncata" was enriched with inulin, a dietary fiber, with the aim of developing a product with improved nutritional properties in terms of prebiotic action on intestinal microbiota. An inulin concentration of ~4% w/w was determined in the fresh cheese after the fortification process, enabling the claim of being a "source of dietary fiber" (inulin > 3 g/100 g) according to the European regulation. The addition of inulin has no effect on the pH of cheese and does not relevantly influence its color as well as the total fat content (fat reduction ~0.61%) in comparison to the control. Mechanical properties of the cheese were also not markedly affected as evidenced from rheological and tensile testing analyses. Indeed, the incorporation of inulin in "giuncata" only exerts a slight "softening effect" resulting in a slightly lower consistency and mechanical resistance in comparison to the control. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of producing a fiber-enriched dairy functional food from a large consumed fresh and soft cheese as "giuncata".
Keywords: UV spectroscopy; derivatization; fresh cheese; functional food; inulin; physicochemical characteristics; prebiotic; rheology; water content.