THE USE OF INULIN AS A DIETARY FIBER IN THE PRODUCTION OF SYNBIOTIC UF-SOFT CHEESE

Abstract

Supplementation of low fat UF- soft cheese manufactured from UF–milk retentate with inulin -as a source of dietary fiber- and probiotic ABT-2 culture was investigated. Inulin was used at levels of 1, 3, 5 and 7% of inulin (IN1, IN3, IN5 and 1N7, respectively). Resultant cheese from different treatments was analyzed for chemical, physical, microbiological, rheological and sensory properties when fresh and after 10, 20 and 30 days of storage at 7°C. The results revealed that the addition of inulin mostly increased moisture and ash content in the stored cheese, WSN/TN and acidity and decreased protein and pH of cheeses compared with the control without inulin. During storage, titratable acidity and WSN/TN content increased and pH values decreased in all treatments including control. Addition of inulin to probiotic UF-soft cheese significantly increased the viability of Lb. acidophilus and Bifidobacterium BB12 at 20 days of storage then their counts sharply declined which was statistically significant (P<0.05) from initial counts. However, addition of inulin at 5 and 7% to milk retentate was more effective than the addition of 1 and 3% during the storage period. Rheological characteristics of the texture (hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness) were significantly lower in most cheeses samples made with inulin. The sensory evaluation showed that the pre-mentioned cheese with 7% inulin ranked the maximum scores for flavour, body & texture and the general appearance with an overall score of 89.00 out of 100 points. The received data indicated that, using inulin at 5 and 7% was good enough to compete with control with fat. So, it can be recommended to use such substances at the recorded levels and the prebiotics in preparing synbiotic UF soft cheese.