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).
Acid- and acid/rennet-curd cheeses part A: Quark, cream cheese and related varieties
Publisher Summary This chapter explains that increased globalization and tourism, the various regional types of fresh cheese have begun to spread outside their regions of origin. Cream cheese, cottage cheese, Quark or Tvorog, Fromage frais, and Ricotta are among the better-known types. Many manufacturers produce cream cheese and similar products without rennet. Heat treatment of milk has very different effects on acid, rennet, and acid-rennet coagulation and gels. Batch separation of curd from whey was done originally by draining and pressing the curd in filter bags. This process produces a granular textured Quark with a smooth mouthfeel (i.e. smoothness and creaminess), and it is still used for farmhouse cheeses or Quarks. Rheological and microscopical investigations have shown that fresh cheeses can be described as dispersions or pastes of hydrated acid casein gel particles in whey.