Use of oxidized potato starch as simultaneous fat and casein replacer in analogue mozzarella cheese-II: Impact on functional and sensory properties of cheese

The present study investigated the fat and casein replacement potential of native and oxidized potato starches both separately and simultaneously in analogue cheese (AC). The oxidized starch was prepared using hydrogen -peroxide and was found to have 0.0225% carboxyl content which complied with the safety limits prescribed by Food and Agriculture Organization. The potato starches were used to replace 5% fat and 15% casein in AC formulation. The native starch resulted in AC hardness ranging from (321.71-584.60) g with the lowest and highest reported when used for separate replacement of fat and casein, respectively but was still softer than control cheese (made without starches) i.e. 809.43 g. In contrast, oxidized starches' addition showed similar or better hardness compared to control cheese and also demonstrated higher stretch relative to control and native starch containing AC. The highest stretch of 10.43 cm was exhibited when oxidized starch was used to replace fat in AC. Melt-ability of AC was slightly compromised on addition of starches except native starch which resulted in melt similar to control when used for combined casein and fat replacement. The free oil release was significantly (P < 0.05) curtailed when starches were used in higher quantity for combined replacement of fat/casein. From sensory perspective, panelists were unable to perceive any statistical difference between control and casein/fat replaced ACs. Thus, in a nutshell, oxidized starch showed better and promising results as fat-mimetic and when used for simultaneous casein/fat replacement in AC but cannot be used to imitate casein owing to 31% decline in melt-ability.