Evaluation of Physicochemical and Textural Properties of Low-Fat and Low Sodium Imitation Pizza Cheese

The increasing growth of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and hardening of the vessel walls as well as obesity in many countries has made low-fat and low sodium pizza cheese one of the subjects of study all over the world. The effects of four important independent variables including inulin (0-0.025 %), pre-gelatinized starch (0-0.5 %), NaCl (0.35-1%), and KCl (0.35-1%) were studied. The fat content of imitation pizza cheese was significantly decreased to 11.91% with the increased levels of inulin and starch substitution (p<0.05). Also, its moisture and pH values were significantly different (p < 0.05). The increased levels of pre-gelatinized starch and inulin reduced hardness (from 5.04 to 3.55) and adhesiveness (from 4368.89% to 1640.54%), however, increased cohesiveness (from 0.365 to 0.43) and springiness (from 0.456 to 0.545). NaCl and KCl increased the hardness of the product. Inulin and starch led to decrease the a* value. The b* value decreases with the increase of inulin and increases with the increase of modified starch. The formulation containing 0.19% inulin, 0.4% pre-gelatinized starch, 0.35% NaCl, and 0.50% KCl was found as the optimal formulation for low-fat imitation cheese. Results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed that inulin crystals were accumulated in the continuous phase, which this can lead to important changes in the sensory and textural properties. The study concludes that inulin or starch can be used to replace up to 3.6% of fat in the imitation pizza cheese and 0.35% NaCl-0.50% KCl to lower the sodium content of the product.