Milk Fat Substitution by Microparticulated Protein in Reduced-fatCheese Emulsion: The Effects on Stability Microstructure Rheological andSensory Properties

摘要

Abstract Fat reduction in the formulation of cheese emulsion causes problems in its flowability and functional characteristics during spray-dried cheese powder production. In order to eliminate these problems, the potential of using microparticulated whey protein (MWP) in cheese emulsions was examined in this study. Reduced-fat white-brined cheese emulsions (RF) with different dry-matters (DM) (15%, 20%, and 25% excluding emulsifying salt) were produced using various MWP concentrations (0%–20% based on cheese DM of emulsion). Their key characteristics were compared to full-fat cheese emulsion (FF). MWP addition had no influence on prevention of the phase separation observed in the instable group (RF 15). The most notable effect of using MWP was a reduction in apparent viscosity of RF which significantly increased by fat reduction. Moreover, increasing the amount of MWP led to a decrease in the values of consistency index and an increase in the values of flow behavior index. On the other hand, using high amounts of MWP made the emulsion more liquid-like compared to full-fat counterpart. MWP utilization also resulted in similar lightness and yellowness parameters in RF as their full-fat counterparts. MWP in RF increased glossiness and flowability scores, whiledecreased mouth coating scores in sensory analyses. Fat reduction caused a morecompact network, while a porous structure similar to FF was observed with MWPaddition to RF. In conclusion, MWP showed a good potential for formulation ofreduced-fat cheese emulsions with rheological and sensorial characteristicssuitable to be used as the feeding liquid in the spray drying process.