Exploring the Potential of Sustainable Acid Whey Cheese Supplemented with Apple Pomace and GABA-Producing Indigenous Lactococcus lactis Strain

Abstract

This study aimed to utilize two by-products, acid whey and apple pomace, as well as an indigenous Lactococcus lactis LL16 strain with the probiotic potential to produce a sustainable cheese with functional properties. Acid whey protein cheese was made by thermocoagulation of fresh acid whey and enhancing the final product by adding apple pomace, L. lactis LL16 strain, or a mixture of both. The sensory, the physicochemical, the proteolytic, and the microbiological parameters were evaluated during 14 days of refrigerated storage. The supplementation of the cheese with apple pomace affected (p ≤ 0.05) the cheese composition (moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and fiber), the texture, the color (lightness, redness, and yellowness), and the overall sensory acceptability. The addition of the presumptive probiotic L. lactis LL16 strain decreased (p ≤ 0.05) the concentration of glutamic acid, thus increasing γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) significantly in the acid whey cheese. The supplementation with apple pomace resulted in slightly (p < 0.05) higher counts of L. lactis LL16 on day seven, suggesting a positive effect of apple pomace components on strain survival. The symbiotic effect of apple pomace and LL16 was noted on proteolysis (pH 4.6-soluble nitrogen and free amino acids) in the cheese on day one, which may have positively influenced the overall sensory acceptance.

Use of high‐intensity ultrasound and micellar casein concentrate addition for improving whey Ricotta cheese production

“…The h * parameter refers to the degree of the dominant spectral component (red, green and blue) and ranges between 0° and 360°, while C *, is a quantitative colour attribute that represents the saturation of a colour (Mileriene et al . 2023), h * of all cheeses was ~179° which falls in quadrant II of the Hunter‐Lab diagram, corresponding to green‐yellow tones; on the other hand, C * varies in relation to relative brightness contrast; colour profiles with the strongest differences between yellow and blue reflectance gave the highest chroma values (Mileriene et al . 2023).…”

“…2023), h * of all cheeses was ~179° which falls in quadrant II of the Hunter‐Lab diagram, corresponding to green‐yellow tones; on the other hand, C * varies in relation to relative brightness contrast; colour profiles with the strongest differences between yellow and blue reflectance gave the highest chroma values (Mileriene et al . 2023). WI is closely correlated with consumer preferences for white colours, while YI indicates the degree of yellowness that a sample has and may be a vital factor on consumer acceptance of WRC (Hesarinejad et al .…”

“…2020), hue angle ( h *) (Eqn 3) (Mileriene et al . 2023), total colour difference (Δ E ) (Eqn 4) (Sukyai et al . 2018), and whiteness (WI) (Eqn 5) and yellowness (YI) indexes (Eqn 6) (Belsito et al .…”

Lactococcus lactis in Dairy Fermentation—Health-Promoting and Probiotic Properties

“…lactis has the ability to produce a great variety of bioactive compounds [131], which possess advantageous effects for technological aspects of food quality and safety parameters [132][133][134], as well as human health [68,135,136]. Bioactive compounds produced by L. lactis (exopolysaccharides (EPSs) [44,132]; organic acids, especially lactic acid (LA) [29,137,138]; bacteriocins [139][140][141][142]; bioactive peptides [143][144][145][146]; conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) [147,148]; gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) [70,149,150]; vitamins [151][152][153][154]; and enzymes [19,[155][156][157]) are sometimes credited as the end byproducts of the fermentation process [44,139,158]. In this section, the advantages and impacts of the abovementioned compounds produced by L. lactis for better human health and quality of food will be summarized.…”

Sustainable Ice Cream Base: Harnessing Mango Seed Kernel (Mangifera indica L. var. Tommy Atkins) Waste and Cheese Whey

“…However, the country has been focused on the development process and utilization of these residues. Concerning cheese whey, the primary studies have been related to microbial biomass production [16][17][18], lactose extraction [19,20], production of fermented beverages [21,22], dietary supplements [23,24], biofuels [25][26][27], and ice cream base [28][29][30]. As for mango seed waste, the literature mentions the extraction of oils [31,32], starch [33,34], bioactive compounds [35,36], and biofuels [37,38].…”