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.
Mascarpone cheese from sheep's milk - a new option for the consumer
Mascarpone is a cheese originally from Italy (Capozzi et al., 2020; Carminati et al., 2001), but it is currently produced in other parts of the world, usually from bovine milk (Almeida et al., 2018; Buratto, 2010; Kapetanakou et al., 2017). It is an unripened fresh cheese, used for consumption shortly after its production (Capozzi et al., 2020; Carminati et al., 2001; European Comission, 2017) with a delicate, soft, dense, creamy and smooth appearence and color that varies from snow white to light yellow. Fat content is quite high varying from 44% to 47% and it may contain over 80% of fat in the dry extract (Buratto, 2010; Capozzi et al., 2020; Troiani, 2015). Unlike other cheeses, it is produced from milk cream and for this reason, it is soft with good spreadability and smells like milk cream, butter or yogurt (Capozzi et al., 2020; Troiani, 2015; European Comission, 2017). The sweet flavor is noticed, with a slight acidic taste and without sensory aspects such as salty and spicy flavors. In addition, it has high moisture and a melting sensation when tasted (Troiani, 2015). The production of mascarpone starts by obtaining a cream using centrifugation or keeping the milk at rest for 24 hours at 10-12 °C in order to favor a slight fermentation (Troiani, 2015). The cream goes through a direct acidification by citric, lactic, tartaric or acetic acid, with the possibility of adding milk, and heating to force coagulation (Buratto, 2010; Capozzi et al., 2020; Carminati et al., 2001; European Comission, 2017; Troiani, 2015). Subsequently, the draining takes place for about 20 hours, and after that the mass is homogenized and packaged (Troiani, 2015).
Genetics of the phenotypic evolution in sheep: a molecular look at diversity-driving genes
Background After domestication, the evolution of phenotypically-varied sheep breeds has generated rich biodiversity. This wide phenotypic variation arises as a result of hidden genomic changes that range from a single nucleotide to several thousands of nucleotides. Thus, it is of interest and significance to reveal and understand the genomic changes underlying the phenotypic variation of sheep breeds in order to drive selection towards economically important traits. Review Various traits contribute to the emergence of variation in sheep phenotypic characteristics, including coat color, horns, tail, wool, ears, udder, vertebrae, among others. The genes that determine most of these phenotypic traits have been investigated, which has generated knowledge regarding the genetic determinism of several agriculturally-relevant traits in sheep. In this review, we discuss the genomic knowledge that has emerged in the past few decades regarding the phenotypic traits in sheep, and our ultimate aim is to encourage its practical application in sheep breeding. In addition, in order to expand the current understanding of the sheep genome, we shed light on research gaps that require further investigation. Conclusions Although significant research efforts have been conducted in the past few decades, several aspects of the sheep genome remain unexplored. For the full utilization of the current knowledge of the sheep genome, a wide practical application is still required in order to boost sheep productive performance and contribute to the generation of improved sheep breeds. The accumulated knowledge on the sheep genome will help advance and strengthen sheep breeding programs to face future challenges in the sector, such as climate change, global human population growth, and the increasing demand for products of animal origin.