Effect of fat and salt reduction on the changes in the concentrations of free amino acids and free fatty acids in Cheddar-style cheeses during maturation

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of reducing fat content from 33 (full-fat, FF) to 22 (reduced-fat, RF) or 16 (half-fat, HF) % on the concentrations of total and individual free amino acids (FAA) and free fatty acids (FFA) in Cheddar-style cheeses with 1.9 (full-salt, FS), 1.2 (reduced-salt, RS) or 0.9 (half-salt, HS) % NaCl over a 270d maturation period at 8°C. Both FAA and FFA increased continuously during ripening, from ∼1200 and 230mg/kg at 30d to 5500 and 1593mg/kg, respectively, in FFFS at 270d. Reducing fat content resulted in higher concentrations of FAA (e.g., from 5500mg/kg in FFFS to 6400mg/kg in HFFS at 270d) and lower levels of FFA (e.g., from 1593mg/kg in FFFS to 1140mg/kg in the HFFS cheese at 270d). Reducing salt content from 1.9 to 1.2 or 0.9 % resulted in a significant decrease in FAA in the FF cheese, from 5500mg/kg in FFFS to 4000mg/kg in FFHS at 270d. Salt content did not significantly affect the concentration of FAA in RF or HF cheeses, or the concentration of total or individual FFA in the FF, RF or HF cheeses.