DYNAMICS OF FATTY ACIDS IN THE PRODUCTION OF TRADITIONAL BULGARIAN DAIRY PRODUCTS

Abstract

Recently, the fatty acids which are the main component of milk fat have been a subject of extensive scientific studies due to their potential positive and negative effects on human health. The purpose of this research is to investigate the dynamics of fatty acids in the production of traditional Bulgarian dairy products - white brined cheese and yellow cheese, obtained from cow’s milk. During the process of manufacturing and ripening, a general decrease in the amount of saturated fatty acids was found, more obvious in the white brined cheese - by 3.44% and insignificant in the yellow cheese - by 0.59%. There was also a minimal decrease in the level of polyunsaturated fatty acids - by 0.37% in white cheese and by 0.8% in yellow cheese. At the same time, there was a raise in the amount of monounsaturated fatty acids by 3.81% in the mature white cheese and by 1.46% in the mature yellow cheese, and a particularly large increase in the amount of linolenic acid, which turned out to be 54 times more in ripened d white cheese and 40.5 times more in ripened yellow cheese.