Cheese is a durable dairy product that has great energy and biological value. It is rich in calcium, phosphorus, protein, zinc, and vitamin A. The role of these nutrients is very important for human health. Calcium, a component of cheese, helps form and maintain healthy bones and teeth. It is important for nerves, muscle contraction and blood clotting. Vitamin A helps maintain vision, skin and the immune system. Zinc supports the immune system, wound healing and the ability to smell and taste. Because of the importance, nutritional value and huge demand, the dairy industry offers a wide range of cheeses with unique taste, texture and nutritional value that meet the taste needs of consumers around the world. According to numerous literary data, today more than two thousand types of cheese are produced. Until the early 1990s, the dairy industry mainly produced high-fat cheeses. From then until today, the percentage of consumers who use cheese in their daily diet is increasing, but with a reduced amount of fat because of the growing awareness of consumers, initiated by numerous studies on the harmful effects of fat on their health. Excessive fat intake leads to enormous weight gain in humans, heart problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, vascular problems, and the like. This trend is generally applied in highly developed countries that have begun to introduce new technologies to produce low-fat cheese. In the United States in the 1990s, there was a significant increase in the consumption of low-fat cheeses, when consumers became aware of the potential benefits of this type of cheese. According to [1], the highest consumption of low-fat cheese at that time was in the United States, and relatively low in Europe, except for the United Kingdom, where sales of low-fat cheese grew at a faster pace than sales of full-fat cheese. That is why the dairy industry is starting to work intensively on the introduction of new technologies to produce cheese with reduced amount of milk fat, in order to meet the need of consumers for these types of products. For the production of low-fat cheese, the only way is to remove the sour cream, and to reduce the percentage of fat in it. In many modern factories, the first step in making this type of cheese is to standardize the casein / fat ratio in milk. The exact ratio of these two components will depend on the desired fat content in the final product. According to the research of several authors [2-5] the removal of all or part of the fat can adversely affect the taste, texture, and functionality of the cheese. Many low-fat cheeses have some undesirable characteristics such as: uncharacteristic taste, greater transparency, less melting point and increased rubbery and stretchy texture. According to the [6], low-fat processed cheese (regardless of type) should have a maximum fat content of 1% to 6%. This standard allows the addition of safe ingredients that improve the texture, improve the taste, increase the shelf life, and improve the appearance, so that the product is not inferior to the characteristics of the standard type of cheese. This standard allows the addition of safe ingredients that improve the texture, improve the taste, increase the shelf life, and improve the appearance, so that the product is not inferior to the characteristics of the standard type of cheese. Reducing fat in cheese, as well as maintaining quality and safety, continues to be a challenge for the global dairy industry.

1. Basic reasons to produce low-fat cheese

Over the past two or three decades, the prevalence of thickness in most countries has increased dramatically. In rich countries, it is estimated that about 30% of adults are thick and the other 35% are overweight. Being overweight is the cause of 30-40% of heart diseases that are accompanied by several other related factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. Other conditions associated with weight gain include cancer, bladder disease, apnea, and osteoarthritis. Other conditions associated with weight gain include cancer, bladder disease, apnea, and osteoarthritis. Activities to reduce dietary fat intake include collecting various data, establishing food standards and categories, raising public awareness, monitoring, and evaluation. Until the early 1990s, the dairy industry mainly produced high-fat cheeses. From then until today, the percentage of consumers who use low-fat cheese in their diet is increasing. In introducing this type of product, the dairy industry has faced many problems, because fat is one of the two most important components that gives the basic organoleptic and nutritional properties of cheese. According to the [6], to indicate on the product label "reduced fat", it is necessary to reduce the fat level by 25%, compared to their presence in the original product. For types of cheese such as cheddar, this would mean a reduction in fat from 16.6 g to 12.5 g / 50 g of cheese. For cheese to be called "low fat", it needs to contain a maximum of 3 g fat / 50 g cheese. According to the [6], standard 2CFR 130.10, types of low-fat processed cheese should contain a maximum of 1-6% fat. Removing all or just part of the fat from the cheese can negative affect of its taste, texture, and functionality. Many of our fatty cheeses have an uncharacteristic taste, high transparency, less melting, rubbery and resinous texture. Low-fat cheeses also show lower viscosity during ripening than other types of cheese.

[7] performed research to identify differences between consumers who consumed full-fat and low-fat cheese. The author noted that many consumers have noticed various negative properties of low-fat cheese such as lack of taste, stickiness, low heat, and unnaturalness of this type of cheese compared to full-fat cheese. To overcome these disadvantages, in the production of low-fat cheese, safe and suitable ingredients have been introduced in the dairy industry that improve its texture and taste, increase its shelf life, improve its appearance, and the product is not inferior to the characteristics of the standard type of cheese.

However, despite the efforts made to improve the sensory and functional properties of low-fat cheese, the general conclusion is that consumers are still skeptical about its selection and consumption. For that purpose, reducing fat in cheese and maintaining its safety and quality continues to be a challenge for the dairy industry in highly developed countries.

1. Characteristics of low – fat cheeses

Low-fat cheeses are less accepted than full-fat cheeses because of their lack of taste, texture and functional properties.

1.  Cheese flavor (taste)

According to [8], the lack of taste in low-fat cheese may be due to: a lack of fat precursors, a lack of fats used as aromatic compound solvents, or certain enzymatic reactions that are essential for the formation of aromatic compounds. Fatty acids in cheese are mainly derived from lipolysis of milk fat. According to [9], cheese flavor is a combination of microbiological and biochemical activities that form a heterogeneous mixture of volatile and non-volatile compounds. In one study, a comparison was made between the evaporation of full-fat and low-fat cheddar cheese. The researchers concluded that the concentration of methane thiol in cheese is correlated with its taste, and the lack of taste in low-fat cheddar cheese is because of the low concentration of this compound in its composition. [10] found that a lack of fatty aromatic derivative compounds, such as short- or medium-chain carboxylic acids, methyl ketones, and σ-lactones, caused poor taste development in cheddar cheese with 50% reduced milk fat. Bitter peptides are formed under the action of various casein proteins. Cheese bitterness occurs when these peptides accumulate to excessive concentrations because of overproduction or degradation by microbial peptidases. Bitter peptidases may be derived from αS1 or B casein. [11], suggests that with a reduced breakdown of hydrophobic bitter peptides in the fatty phase of low-fat cheese, bitterness in cheese may be reduced. The bitterness in cheese, according to [11], is because of the accumulation of enormously high concentrations of hydrophobic peptides and other compounds, such as some amino acids, amides, long chain ketones, and so on.

1.  Cheese color

The appearance and color of the cheese are also important for consumer acceptance. By removing the fat from the cheese, the number of lights scattered rays is reduced and the low-fat cheese becomes slightly translucent. This becomes especially noticeable when the fat level is reduced by more than 50%, which can be clearly seen in cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Besides fat, the protein / calcium ratio also influences the transparency of the cheese. By reducing the protein / calcium ratio, the cheese becomes softer and wetter, which contributes to the loss of its transparency. Low fat mozzarella cheese is made by direct acidification to reduce the level of calcium and it becomes transparent when a small amount of salt is added and the solubility of the casein matrix is ​​increased [12]. This change in the transparency of the cheese can be considered because of the internal aggregation of proteins present in the cheese matrix. When the cheese is heated, it regains its opacity and turns white, but it becomes transparent again after cooling. This phenomenon is also observed in low-fat cheddar cheese.

3.3 Texture and functionality on the low-fat cheese

Texture defects at low fat cheese includes increasing in hardness, elasticity, dryness, and grain structure. The development of the texture in the cheese is a result of the breakdown of αs1 casein during its maturation. Milk fat usually it gives atypical smoothness to the whole cheese, it is equally distributed in ots casein matrix. When the fats are removed casein plays the most important role in developing the texture of the cheese. In low-fat cheese there is also a breakdown of casein, and it is therefore considered to have a solid texture. The degree of hydrolysis depends on the moisture and salt content of the cheese [13]. Higher pH of the tusk during the juicing and lower cooking temperatures are commonly used in the production of low-fat cheese, resulting in lower chymosin retention and lower plasmin activity. This is also partial cause of less decomposition of part of the protein during ripening of the cheese. [14] found in their studies that the relatively high level of calcium retention in low-fat cheese gives it its solidness. Reducing the fats, the cheese grows in its viscosity and the melting cheese time.

When the percentage of fat decreases, the protein matrix is thicker, the fat globular dispersion is smaller and with that the cheese structure becomes more compact. [15] concluded that hardness and extensibility increase linearly, while cohesion decreases nonlinearly with decreasing fat content in the production of cheddar cheese. According to [16] this cheese contains many small evenly dispersed fat globules that release a lower percentage of fat. As the fat content decreases, fat globules cease to play a significant role in the texture of the cheese. The use of whey protein in the production of low-fat cheddar cheese leads to an improvement in its texture, in terms of its elasticity and taste. [17] in their research found that the textural properties of cheese can be changed both with the use of proteins, carbohydrates, or fats, and with the help of emulsion of water and oil. Another alternative to imitating normal fat cheese is to use cultures that generate large amounts of polysaccharides as a capsule around bacterial cells. Such crops are known to reduce syneresis during cheese making and thus increase the moisture content by up to 3% [18]. The same authors point out that these crops are used to make low-fat mozzarella cheese, [19,20] for making low-fat cheddar cheese. [21] studied the influence of exopolysaccharides on cheese production, and concluded that their use reduces elasticity, increases melting point, and reduces the surface area during baking.

[22] suggested that cheese melting is influenced by the constant hydrolysis of αS1 and β-casein into small peptides rather than by the hydrolysis of unchanged proteins. Difficulties in melting low or reduced fat grated mozzarella cheese can be easily overcome by coating the surface of the cheese with small amounts of oil to prevent dehydration of its surface [23]. Although mozzarella cheese is not considered a mature cheese, only a small degree of decomposition of the casein is required to develop its structure, texture, and functionality. According to [23] when the fat content is reduced below 15%, there is a decrease in cheese proteolysis and an increase in firmness during its storage. Such changes negatively affect the functional properties of low-fat cheese. 

4. The effect of fat on the microstructure of the cheese

 As the fat content of cheddar cheese increases, there is a decrease in the volume fraction and continuity of the matrix, which becomes interrupted by a larger number of fat globules. At the same time, fat globules of different shapes and sizes are becoming more numerous, and the degree of their association and coalescence is increasing. Increased aggregation of fat globules is an expected occurrence because the number of their collisions increases and there is a contraction of the coating protein matrix during the production process. By reducing the fat content, the cheese develops longer stretches of the casein matrix, and the fat globules become more uniformly dispersed, reducing their interconnection. According to [24]low-fat mozzarella cheese (less than 4% w / w) does not have enough fat globules to hold the casein chains apart during the formation of the sucker. As a result of the high aggregation of casein, the matrix becomes extremely compact, reducing the space between the protein layers compared to the whole type of mozzarella by ~ 17% w / w. As a result, the low-fat mozzarella matrix has a low moisture retention capacity, and the cheese is characterized by a relatively low moisture content in non-fat dry matter (MNFS). [24] note that the addition of Novagel (a blended mixture of microcrystalline cellulose and guar gum with a particle size of 10 to 100µm) into cheese-producing milk results in the formation of large amorphous particles in low-fat mozzarella cheese. Such large particles increase the degree of paracasein aggregation during cheese production. As a result, the addition of Novagel particles results in the creation of relatively large channels in the serum (eg up to 300 µm) and a higher moisture content compared to the classic low-fat mozzarella cheese. [24]note that the addition of Novagel (a blended mixture of microcrystalline cellulose and guar gum with a particle size of 10 to 100µm) into cheese-producing milk results in the formation of large amorphous particles in low-fat mozzarella cheese. Such large particles affect.

5. Influence of fat level on the cooking properties of cheese

The effects of reduced fat content on the functionality of cheeses when heated have been the subject of intense research and review in the last decade, especially when it comes to mozzarella and cheddar [25]. Mozzarella and cheddar make up about 30% of total cheese production globally and their use in cooked dishes is becoming more intense. The reduction of the fat content has a negative effect on the functionality of the cheddar and mozzarella, which is reflected by the reduction of the elasticity and stretch, as well as the increase of the apparent viscosity of the melted cheeses.

[25]note that the elasticity of mozzarella cheese aged 1 to 6 weeks is reduced by 9-25% with a reduction in fat content of 25-9% (w / w), while according to research. when reducing the fat content from 32% to 6% w / w the elasticity of the cheddar that matures in about 180 days is reduced by 70 to 95%.

The negative effect of fat reduction on cheese elasticity is due to a few factors, including increased casein levels, decreased proteolysis, the ratio of moisture to protein content, and the heat-induced coalescence.

The elasticity and fluidity of melted cheddar and mozzarella increase with increasing fat content. When heating low-fat or whole-fat cheddar cheese obtained from homogenized milk, these two properties are much less pronounced, compared to those of whole-fat cheddar cheese obtained from non-homogenized milk.

Based on numerous literary data and research around the world and the analyzed published results to produce low-fat cheese, it can be said that in the last few years, due to the increased demand from consumers, the dairy industry in developed countries is concentrated on production. on a wide range of low-fat cheeses, yet with the approximate organoleptic characteristics of full-fat cheeses. Increasing the awareness of consumers about their proper nutrition, weight loss, as well as improving their overall health is the reason for the growing demand for this product. Removing all or part of the fat from the cheese has a negative effect on the taste, texture, and functionality. Many low-fat cheeses are characterized by greater transparency, less melting, rubbery and resinous texture, and an uncharacteristic taste. To overcome these shortcomings, several technologies have been developed that have significantly improved the quality properties of these types of cheeses and they are well accepted by consumers. Due to the increased awareness among consumers, initiated by numerous campaigns for proper and healthy nutrition and improving health, dairy processing facilities have a wide opportunity to invest and produce cheeses of this type that will be interesting and widely accepted by consumers in our ground.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

No funding sources

The study was approved by the quality and food safety Agricultural engineer at public waste community- “Pitu Guli 2a”, 7500 Prilep, North Macedonia.

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