Production of low fat synbiotic low fat cream cheese by Alyssum homolocarpum and Flaxseed gum

The demand of low-fat and reduced-fat product has greatly increased due to consumer’s awareness of the relationship between diet and health. This has led the dairy food industry to continuously work on formulating and developing “functional dairy foods” with good textural qualities. In this research, the influence of different levels of Alyssum homolocarpum seed gum (AHSG) (0-1%) and Flaxseed gum (FG) (0-1%) on the physicochemical, sensory and microbial properties of low-fat synbiotic cream cheese during 45 days of storage were evaluated. The results showed that AHSG and FG increase caused significant increment in moisture content, hardness, springiness, adhesiveness and spreadability of samples. Evaluation of the organoleptic properties showed that addition of AHSG and FG caused a double impact on the sensory properties, and sensory parameters improved up to medium concentrations of AHSG and FG. Results showed that during the storage, acidity increased while pH, hardness, springiness, adhesiveness and spreadability were decreased. Based on the probiotic count test, only optimized sample had the amount of probiotic bacteria in the standard range at the end of storage time. The findings of this study showed that incorporation of AHSG and FG into the formulation of low-fat synbiotic cream cheese could be an effective strategy to overcome the problems associated with fat reduction.