The influence of quinoa flour addition on the physicochemical, antioxidant activity, textural, and sensory characteristics of UF‐soft cheese during refrigerated storage

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of quinoa flour (QF) addition at different levels (0%, 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0%) on the physicochemical, syneresis, antioxidant activity, textural and sensorial characteristics of UF-soft cheeses during refrigerated storage for 30 days. QF-added samples exhibited significantly (p ≤ .001) higher level of protein, fat, ash, dietary fiber, total phenolic, and antioxidant activity with lower syneresis than the control cheese. Magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc were higher in the QF-added samples than in control. The syneresis was significantly lower (p ≤ .001) in QF-added samples than in control. The texture profile analysis showed that QF-added samples were less soft, more gummy, chewy, and springy than control cheese. Sensory evaluation of cheeses supplemented with 1% or 2% QF had the highest score of overall acceptability since the addition of 3%QF had undesirable effects on consumer acceptability. Practical applications The addition of 1% or 2% quinoa flour to UF-soft cheese is an option to improve the content of nutritionally important compounds of the product.