Effect of Ocimum basilicum oil on the Consistency of Tallaga Cheese in Full-fat and Low-fat during Storage

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of basil oil on chemical composition and sensory characteristics of full-fat and low-fat Tallaga cheese.. Both full-fat and low-fat buffalo’s milk curd was divided into four equal portions. One batch had no basil oil as a control. The latter batches were fortified with oil at the rate of 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15%. The resultant cheese samples were stored at 6±1°C for 30 days.Chemical and sensory evaluations were carried out for the cheese samples at zero, 10, 20 and 30 days. The results identification of O. Basilicum oil compounds using GC-MS with a flame ionization detector analysis showed that the main components were methyl chavicole (71.30%) followed by cineole (11.70%), linalool (11.37%), methylengenol (2.60%) and caryophyllene (0.71%). Chemical and sensory evaluations were carried out for the cheese samples at zero, 10, 20 and 30 days. The results indicated that significant variations were found in the titratable acidity, fat, S.N. and thiobarbituri acid among the control and the treated cheese samples, the highest titratable acidity was for the control cheese while the lowest one was for the cheese sample with 0.15% basil oil. No significant differences were observed in the fat contents of the different treatments. The storage period had significant effect on the chemical composition of the cheese samples. As the storage period advanced the titratable acidity, soluble nitrogen andthiobarbituri acid increased towards the end of the storage period. Sensory evaluation of cheese showed the flavor of basil flavored cheeses were higher than plain cheese during the storage period. There were no significant differences in the cheese’s appearance nor in the chemical composition of plain and basil cheeses.