Natural peppermint-flavored cheese

Background: The essential oils of edible and medicinal plants, herbs and spices are natural biologically ac- tive agents. Peppermint has a special position in Egyptian culture and is used as fresh or dried leaves. One of the main aims of the food industry is to manufacture products with good sensory acceptance. The present study aims to produce a novel attractive cheese with a low concentration of natural peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oil (PEO). Moreover, PEO volatile composition, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity extracted by the hydro-distillation of peppermint fresh leaves were investigated.

Methods: Volatile components of PEO were identified using a GC-MS instrument. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were determined using the DPPH radical scavenging method for PEO. Moreover, PEO-flavored cheeses at a level of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ppm compared to plain cheese were analyzed for sensorial, chemical and rheological properties during storage at 5°C.

Results: Identification of PEO’s volatile compounds using GC-MS with a flame ionization detector analy- sis showed that the main components were menthol (37.62%), menthone (20.98%), carvone (11.76%), dihydro carveol acetate (11.23%), cineol (5.89%), β-caryophyllene (2.94), limonene (2.78%) and iso-menthone (2.39). Moreover, the antioxidant activity of PEO was 56.03 (%) with a TPC of 0.299 (mg/ml). Sensory evaluation of cheese showed the flavor and body and texture of PEO-flavored cheeses were higher than plain cheese during the storage period. There were no significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in the cheese’s appearance nor in the chemical composition of plain and PEO-flavored cheeses. However, the TVFA and SN of plain cheese was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower than PEO cheeses at the level of 60, 80 and 100 ppm during the storage period.

Conclusions: Hydro-distillation of Egyptian peppermint leaves revealed a lot of volatile compounds and antioxidant activity for the resulting essential oil; Moreover, the presence of PEO in cheese leading to enhanced TVFA and SN nitrogen contents compared to plain cheese may offer a novel flavored cheese with desirable multifunctional health effects in humans. Peppermint-flavored cheese was more accepted than plain cheese and survived without any defects until the end of the cheese storage period.