Waxy starch could produce non-milk cheese: Study

Turkish researchers report that amylase should also be added to formulation in order to balance the physical properties of the ‘cheese’,

“Results obtained from a trial cheese produced according to the determined formula confirmed that the values of physical properties estimated by the optimization can be achieved,” ​wrote the researchers in the journal Food Hydrocolloids​.

Muzeyyen Burcu Kiziloz and co-workers from Instanbul Technical University state that imitation cheeses are produced for increasing functionality “such as reduction of fat content, enhancement of nutritive value by addition of vitamins and minerals and reduction of production cost by using plant-based ingredients.​

“Furthermore, they can be produced with a modified composition for special consumer groups with dietary limitations. This kind of products can be produced for patients with phenylketonuria if the protein or phenylalanine content is reduced,” ​they said.​

“Cheese cannot be consumed by these patients due to its high protein content. Food choices of these patients would be diversified by low protein containing imitation cheese,”​ they wrote.

Fake cheese formulation​

The Turkish researchers formulated imitation cheese by replacing 80 per cent rennet casein, the preferred protein source for such products because of an improved flavour, with partially hydrolyzed waxy maize starch (Cerestar, Cargill) and kappa-carrageenan (Type HGE, MSC). The formula was further optimised using alpha-amylase (Fungamyl, Novozymes).

The amylase and carrageenan were found to have opposite effects on the physical properties of the cheese, particularly for meltability, hardness and cohesiveness.

“Therefore, a balance between the two ingredients was established to obtain highest possible values of all the response variables,”​ wrote the researchers.

This study was financed by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.

Alternative cheeses​

Low-fat cheese is growing strongly in popularity as consumers increasingly focus on healthy diets. More than twice as many new low-fat cheeses were introduced in 2007 compared to 2005, according to data supplied by market research firm Mintel to Chr Hansen. In the last quarter of 2007, nearly 90 new low fat cheese products were introduced globally, says Mintel.

Source: Food Hydrocolloids​ Volume 23, Pages 1596-1601"Development of the structure of an imitation cheese with low protein content"​ Authors: M. Burcu Kiziloz, O. Cumhur, M. Kilic