Geographical differentiation of traditional Iranian dried kashk based on gross composition, fatty acids, elements, free amino acids and vitamins

Abstract

Kashk (Kašk) is a popular Iranian traditional fermented food product, which is mainly produced at home in rural areas from raw milk (cow, sheep, or both) with/without wheat flour or cracked wheat. Traditional dried Kashk is one of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products, which is characterized by its rich nutritional value. In this study, dried Kashk samples collected from 11 regions of Iran based on ingredients and production methods. The gross composition/physicochemical parameters, fatty acids (FA), elements, free amino acids (FAA), and vitamins of Kashk were determined. The sensory attributes and the microstructure of Kashk samples were also evaluated. Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) extract the chemical characteristic from the spectra matrix (independent variable, X) and concentration matrix (dependent variable, Y). According to multivariate statistical analysis (MANOVA) and PLS-DA, the samples obtained a correct classification rate (100%) for FA, elements and FAA, based on their ingredients.