Fatty Acids Profile, Trans Isomers, and Lipid Quality Indices in Smoked and Unsmoked Cheeses and Cheese-Like Products.

Beata Paszczyk,Joanna Łuczyńska,Magdalena Polak-Śliwińska

doi:10.3390/ijerph17010071

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fatty acid composition, including trans C18:1 and C18:2 isomers and the content of conjugated linoleic acid cis9trans11 C18:2 (CLA), in commercial smoked and unsmoked cheeses and cheese-like products available on the Polish market as well as to compare lipid quality indices in these products. The composition of fatty acids was determined with the gas chromatography method. The conducted study demonstrated that smoked and unsmoked cheeses as well as smoked and unsmoked cheese-like products were characterized by various contents of fatty acids and various lipid quality indices. The smoked and the unsmoked cheeses had significantly higher (p < 0.05) contents of saturated fatty acids (SFA), short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), and branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA) than the smoked and the unsmoked cheese-like products. The monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) contents were the highest in unsmoked cheese-like products (39.29 ± 1.49% and 9.13 ± 0.33%, respectively). In smoked and unsmoked cheeses, MUFA were above 24% and PUFA were above 2.4%. The total content of trans C18:1 isomers was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the cheeses, but in the group of these isomers, trans10 + trans11 isomers were dominant. High levels of trans6–trans9 isomers (up to 2.92% of total fatty acid) were found in some of the samples of unsmoked cheese-like products, while their content in cheeses was lower. The lipid quality indices in cheeses and cheese-like products were varied. The smoked and the unsmoked cheeses were characterized by significantly higher (p < 0.05) values of the index of thrombogenicity (TI) and atherogenicity (AI) indices and significantly lower (p < 0.05) values of the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic (HH) ratio.

Highlights

All natural fats and oils are a combination of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids
In smoked and unsmoked cheeses, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were above 24% and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were above 2.4%
Smoked and unsmoked cheeses were characterized by similar contents of MUFA and PUFA (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

All natural fats and oils are a combination of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids. A characteristic feature of milk fat is the presence of saturated fatty acids (SFA) as well as a high content of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). Of SFA, 25% of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and about 5% of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) [1]. Of the saturated fatty acids, about 10% are short-chain fatty acids (C4:0–C10:0) [2]. Studies on fatty acid effects on human health indicate that only a few individual fatty acids are responsible for the negative consequences on consumer health [3,4]. Studies of other authors assessing the impact of saturated fat intake on metabolic health are inconclusive [6] and indicate that the physiological impact of dietary SFA depends on dietary source and food matrix and on SFA type

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion