Harnessing the potential of chestnut shell extract to enhance fresh cheese: a sustainable approach for nutritional enrichment and shelf-life extension

Abstract

A novel approach for enhancing the nutritional benefits and shelf-life of fresh cheese, while reducing food industry waste, is adding chestnut shell extract to the cheese. Chestnut shells are a great source of bioactive substances including phenolic compounds, with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities. The chestnut shell extract exhibited interesting antioxidant properties, resulting from the presence of catechin and gallic acid, 2.59 and 0.97 mgcompound∙gsample−1, respectively, in its composition. The incorporation of the phenolic extract did not influence the pH value of the cheese, with values within the range of 6.2–6.5. Additionally, the extract decreased the syneresis which is important in terms of stability. Regarding the antioxidant characteristics, incorporating the extract improved this biological property. The results proved that an increase in the extract concentration allows the inhibition of higher percentages of this radical. Cheese with extract exhibited higher acceptance, but visual components need improvement. Hence, incorporating chestnut shell extract into fresh cheese is a promising approach to adding value to dairy products and promoting sustainable food production. This study can be considered innovative and relevant because it allows the utilisation of agro-industrial by-products to increase the shelf life of fresh cheese, an extremely relevant parameter for the producer, promoting the circular economy.