Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Whey Cheese with Pine Nuts

This study aimed to develop a value-added whey cheese through addition of pine nuts. Therefore, different concentrations of pine nuts [2, 4, 6 and 8% (w/w)] were added to whey cheese. The study was designed to evaluate the influence of pine nuts on physicochemical and sensory properties of whey cheese. The addition of pine nuts resulted in an increase in fat content and total solids and a decrease in moisture content. However, no statistically significant difference was found in pH values. Sensory analysis was performed using the 9-point hedonic scale, with selected assessors. The whey cheese sample with 4% pine nuts was the most appreciated (7.6 points), followed by the classic whey cheese, whey cheese with 6 and 8% pine nuts (7.4 points), and whey cheese with 2% pine nuts (7.3 points). Nevertheless, the sensory characteristics of whey cheese were not significantly influenced by the addition of pine nuts. Whey cheese sensory profiling was successful in differential characterization of whey cheese samples