Serbian traditional goat cheese : physico-chemical, sensory, hygienic and safety characteristics

Research Areas: MicrobiologyThis research project aimed to investigate the physico-chemical, sensory, hygienic and safety characteristics of raw goat milk, whey, brine and traditional goat cheese during the ripening period of 28 days. Physico-chemical parameters included the determination of dry matter, fat, ash, protein, pH, water activity and NaCl content. The presence of Enterobacteriaceae and fungi was estimated on milk and cheese samples, and a sensory panel evaluated the products’ features and acceptability during ripening. The results show that the cheese under study belongs to the acid full-fat cheese group. A consumer panel attributed high scores to the goat cheese, until the 21st day of ripening. After this period, the overall features altered significantly, including augmented bitterness, odor intensification and the development of molds on the surface. The presence of fungi, associated with Enterobacteriaceae, suggests that the hygiene of the production processes needs to be improved. Regarding microbial safety, the detection of putative pathogens and antibiotic resistances recommend an active surveillance of traditional foods to avoid foodborne infections and/or the dissemination of resistant microorganisms along the food chaininfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modeling and Optimization of Herb-Fortified Fresh Kombucha Cheese: An Artificial Neural Network Approach for Enhancing Quality Characteristics

In this study, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model is used to solve the complex task of producing fresh cheese with the desired quality parameters. The study focuses on kombucha fresh cheese samples fortified with ground wild thyme, supercritical fluid extract of wild thyme, ground sage and supercritical fluid extract of sage and optimizes the parameters of chemical composition, antioxidant potential and microbiological profile. The ANN models demonstrate robust generalization capabilities and accurately predict the observed results based on the input parameters. The optimal neural network model (MLP 6-10-16) with 10 neurons provides high r2 values (0.993 for training, 0.992 for testing, and 0.992 for validation cycles). The ANN model identified the optimal sample, a supercritical fluid extract of sage, on the 20th day of storage, showcasing specific favorable process parameters. These parameters encompass dry matter, fat, ash, proteins, water activity, pH, antioxidant potential (TP, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP), and microbiological profile. These findings offer valuable insights into producing fresh cheese efficiently with the desired quality attributes. Moreover, they highlight the effectiveness of the ANN model in optimizing diverse parameters for enhanced product development in the dairy industry

Protein characterisation and antioxidant potential of fresh cheese obtained by kombucha inoculum

U ovom radu ispitani su proteinski profil, in vitro gastrointestinalna digestija i antioksidativni potencijal dva uzorka svježeg sira dobivenog korištenjem kombucha inokuluma i tradicionalne starter kulture. Utvrđena je značajna razlika u proteinskom profilu i biološkom potencijalu između uzoraka svježeg sira. Kombucha svježi sir sadržava veći udio proteina, pretežno frakcija kazeina (α-kazein i β-kazein) u odnosu na svježi sir koji je dobiven tradicionalnom starter kulturom. Tijekom gastrointestinalne digestije, frakcije kazeina brže se razgrađuju pepsinom u uzorku svježeg sira s tradicionalnim starter kulturom nego u kombucha svježem siru. Nakon gastrointestinalne digestije (s pepsinom i pankreatinom), u uzorku kombucha svježeg sira utvrđena je znatno veća količina topljivih proteinskih frakcija i viši stupanj hidrolize u odnosu na uzorak dobiven tradicionalnom starter kulturom. Hidrolizati sira dobiveni inokulumom kombuche sadržavali su veće koncentracije fenola i imali veću sposobnost uklanjanja antiradikala od hidrolizata svježeg sira proizvedenog s tradicionalnom starter kulturom. Rezultati pokazuju da primjena inokuluma kombuche doprinosi poboljšanju biološkog potencijala svježeg sira.Protein profile, in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and antioxidant potential of two fresh cheese samples obtained by kombucha inoculum and traditional starter culture have been investigated in this study. There is a significant difference in protein profile and bioactive potential between fresh cheese samples. Kombucha fresh cheese contains higher proportion of protein, predominantly the casein fractions (α-casein and β-casein) compared to fresh cheese obtained by traditional culture. After gastrointestinal digestion (with pepsin and pancreatin), significantly higher amount of soluble protein and higher degree of hydrolyses were measured in kombucha fresh cheese sample than sample obtained by traditional culture. During gastrointestinal digestion, for fresh cheese with traditional starter both fractions of casein are degraded more rapidly by pepsin than in kombucha fresh cheese. The hydrolysates of cheese obtained by kombucha inoculum showed higher phenolic content and higher antiradical scavenging abilities than hydrolysates of fresh cheese produced with traditional starter. These results suggest that kombucha inoculum contributes to improvement of product’s bioactive potential