Functionalisation of goat cheese with sea fennel ingredients

Functional foods, i.e., foods promoting health positive effects in addition to nutritional purposes, are gaining prominence. Different organisms have been explored for bioactive ingredients to functionalise foods, but scarce research has targeted halophytes despite their recognized biological properties. In this study, the aromatic and medicinal halophyte Crithmum maritimum L. (sea fennel) was used to functionalise goat cheese (dried biomass, water extract), to obtain a dairy product with improved antioxidant, organoleptic, and microbiological properties. Sea fennel ingredients were added before/after cheese coagulation, and cheeses were evaluated for physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties. Adding sea fennel ingredients after coagulation reduced the cheese’s yellow colour and lowered its pH. Fat content was higher in cheese with C. maritimum biomass added before coagulation (17 – 19%, versus 15.8 – 16% from addition after), oppositely to protein content that was higher when biomass was added after coagulation (30.96%, versus 24.20% from addition before). Adding plant ingredients to cheese led to an increased microbial population, probably due to plants’ microbiological contamination, but values were within the parameters required by guidelines. As for antioxidant activity, no significant results indicated that C. maritimum added this property to cheeses.

Funding This research received Portuguese national funds from FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology (projects UIDB/04326/2020, UIDP/04326/2020, LA/P/0101/2020, and PTDC/BAA-AGR/1391/2020) and Operational Programmes CRESC Algarve 2020 and COMPETE 2020 (project EMBRC.PT ALG-01-0145-FEDER- 022121). LC was supported by FCT Scientific Employment Stimulus (CEECIND/00425/2017), MJR by FCT program contract (UIDP/04326/2020), and VCL by FCT PhD grant (2020.04541.BD).

Publication History

Article published online:
16 November 2023