Impact of Bee pollen, Palm pollen and Wheat germ on the Physicochemical, Functional Properties, and Free Amino Acid Profile of Spreadable Processed Cheese

Abstract

HE purpose of this paper is to produce a new spreadable processed cheese with functional and nutritional value. Bee pollen (BP), Palm pollen (PP) and Wheat germ (WG) at level 5% were used individually as a functional and natural ingredient in the production of Spreadable processed cheese to determine their effect on physicochemical, functional and sensory properties of the product.The addition of these ingredients lead to improvement of the physicochemical composition as a result of the increase in nutritional value of processed cheese in terms of proteins, carbohydrates, ash and enhancing the physical properties. Highcontent of phenolic and antioxidant activity has been observed in processed cheese containing BP, PP and WG. High values of phenolic compounds were obtained in PP-cheese which had an equivalent 1.87 mg Gallic acid/g cheese and 62.47% antioxidant activity, while the lowest ones an equivalent of 1.38 mg Gallic acid/g cheese and 51.90% antioxidant activity were observed in WG-cheese. In addition, a balanced amino acid profile with vital essential amino acids was obtained in the final processed cheese product and the PP-cheese contained a high content of these acids. Moreover, the panelists preferred the cheese samples containing these additives without negative notes, while WG-cheese had the highest scores.This ensure the acceptance of these additives as a functional component in the manufacture of processed cheese at level 5%, which opens the way for future experiments for testing higher levels of these promising functional ingredients.