PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MASCARPONE CHEESE WITH FISH GELATIN AS A FAT SUBSTITUTE
Mascarpone cheese is a type of cheese with high fat content and a mild flavor. These features make this cheese an ingredient commonly used in many and different food products. However, these products usually have high fat and sugar contents. This, coupled with the mascarpone fat content, makes them nutritionally unattractive. This study describes the effect of adding gelatin from marine wastes as a fat substitute in mascarpone cheese and its impact on rheological and textural properties of this cheese. Six different samples of mascarpone cheese were prepared, where two fish gelatins (yellowfin tuna and blue shark) were tested as partial fat replacers, at two different percentages: 15% and 25%; a commercial product was included for comparative purposes. The results showed, for both marine species, reduced fat content, when compared to the control. The samples with yellowfin tuna gelatin had similar rheological and textural properties, when compared with control and commercial product. However, the mascarpone cheese with blue shark gelatin had less softness. The color was not affected by the inclusion of gelatin. In general, the addition of 15% gelatin showed a strong similarity to the commercial product and the control sample, and the sample with 15% tuna gelatin showed the best results from both sensorial and nutritional points of view.
Mediterranean milk and milk
products
Summary.Milk and dairy products are part of a healthy
Mediterranean diet which, besides cow’s milk, also consists of
sheep’s, goat’s and buffalo’s milk—alone or as a mixture—as raw
material. The fat and protein composition of the milk of the
various animal species differs only slightly, but in every case
it has a high priority in human nutrition. The milk proteins are
characterized by a high content of essential amino acids. Beyond
that macromolecules,which have various biological functions, are
available or may be formed by proteolysis in milk. Taking this
into consideration, the technology of different well-known
Italian and German cheese types is presented and the differences
as well as correspondences regarding nutrition are
discussed.Especially Ricotta and Mascarpone are discussed in detail.
Ricotta represents a special feature as this cheese is
traditionally made of whey and cream. Thus the highly valuable
whey proteins which contain a higher amount of the amino acids
lysine, methionine and cysteic acid in comparison to casein and,
additionally, to soy protein, are made usable for human
nutrition. Finally, it is pointed out on the basis of individual
examples that technologies to enrich whey proteins in cheese are
already available and in use. Thus, the flavor of low fat cheese
is improved and the nutritional value is increased.
Rheological Properties and Microstructure of Acid Milk Gels as Affected by Fat Content and Heat Treatment
Gels were made from recombined milks containing 0, 1.5 or 3.5% fat that were heated at 75, 80 or 90°C for 30 min, followed by acidification with glucono-8-lactone at 30°C. The rheological and microstructural properties of acid gels were investigated using dynamic low-amplitude oscillatory rheology and confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM). Heating milks, at temperatures ≥80°C, increased the storage moduli (G′) and decreased the gelation time. Recombined milks containing high fat (3.5%) had higher G′ than gels made from low-fat or skim milk. Milk heat treatment resulted in gels with a cross-linked microstructure. Recombined fat globules appeared to be embedded in the protein matrix.