Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria

Background. Processed cheeses and processed cheese products are products that often contain non-dairy raw materials. However, the vast majority of research is aimed exclusively at studying the effects of these raw materials on quality and nutritional value, but the cost of finished products is not taken into account. Given this, it is important to search for recipes for processed cheese products using non-dairy raw materials which will achieve the minimum cost of production considering the optimal values of rheological parameters and organoleptic characteristics.
Materials and methods. To optimize the recipe of processed cheese products, we used an experiment planning for a linear dependence model with two active factors (mass fraction of a mixture of palm oil and hemp oil and mass fraction of a mixture of oat flour and rice flour) and two output parameters (shear stress limit and organoleptic characteristics) followed by a search for the recipe of the processed cheese product of the minimum cost and acceptable quality. Results. The linear models obtained from the results of the planning of the experiment allow the influence of the amount of oil mixture (palm oil and hemp oil in the ratio 84.1:15.9) and of the amount of flour mixture (oat flour and rice flour in the ratio 55:45) on the shear stress limit and organoleptic characteristics of processed cheese products to be predicted. The mass fraction of the oil mixture and flour mixture is predicted, from which it is possible to produce a product of a set quality. Graphical interpretation of the results made it possible to determine the points of intersection of graphs (special points), which unite the zones of shear stress limit from 650 to 700 Pа and organoleptic assessment of processed cheese products in the range from 87 to 93 points. The mass fraction of the oil mixture and flour mixture at special points, respectively, are: (1) 8 and 0.5%, (2) 8 and 1.21%, (3) 10.25 and 2.5%, (4) 11.5 and 2.5%. Further calculation of the cost of raw materials at these points showed that the minimal possible cost of raw materials for processed cheese products of a set quality (shear stress limit is 650 Pa, organoleptic evaluation is 93 points) is 3.43 EUR/kg with 2.5% flour mixture and 11.5% oil mixture. To ensure the quality of the product of the specified reliability, and considering the error of the experiment Δx1 = ±0.09 and Δx2 = ±0.05, the proposed recipe for the processed cheese product contains 11.32% oil mixture and 2.45% flour mixture at a cost per product of 3.48 EUR/kg. The product has an elastic, homogeneous consistency, a clean and pronounced odor with a slight aroma of roasted sunflower seeds, a moderately salty pleasant taste with a slight aftertaste of oatmeal, and a uniform cream color. The physico-chemical parameters (mass fraction of moisture, fat, salt, pH) are within the established norms.
Conclusions. It is possible to use a mixture of palm oil and hemp oil (in the ratio of 84.1:15.9) in the amount of 8 to 12% of the total number of raw components and a mixture of oat flour and rice flour (in the ratio of 55:45) in the amount of 0.5 to 2.5% in the recipe of processed cheese products. In this case, it is possible to obtain a product of different consistency (from plastic to elastic) with a high organoleptic rating, which depends on the amount and ratio of the non-dairy raw materials used. The processed cheese product which contains 11.32% oil mixture and 2.45% flour mixture is characterized by having the minimum cost, optimal value of shear stress limit, high organoleptic properties, and physicochemical parameters within established norms. The proposed approach to the designing of the recipe, taking into account its cost, can be used in the manufacturing of processed cheese products using other non-dairy raw materials.