Safranal transference from ewe's milk to cheese and whey and antifungal properties of fortified whey

Abstract

Growth of undesirable moulds is one of the major causes of defects in modern cheese production, and it is necessary to discover natural antifungal substances that are non-toxic to humans. Saffron spice has been successfully used as a new ingredient in some Italian or Spanish cheeses, but transference of safranal (the main compound responsible for saffron aroma) during cheesemaking has not yet been studied. In this study, the distribution of safranal in cheese, whey and requesón (Spanish whey cheese) and the antifungal potential of whey fractions against the mould Penicillium verrucosum were studied. To this end, a duplicate fabrication of cheeses was performed with raw ewe's milk with the addition of 40 μg safranal.kg −1 or control milk (no safranal addition). Safranal was more concentrated in cheese and requesón (78.91 and 76.95 μg.kg −1 , respectively) than in whey and requesón whey (35.19 and 34.64 μg.kg −1 , respectively). These liquid fractions showed good antifungal properties and inhibited mould with a safranal concentration of around 35 μg.kg −1 , while a solution of 80 μg.kg −1 was required for a standard safranal solution to obtain a similar inhibition. These results reveal that whey has a synergistic effect with safranal in preventing cheese spoilage by moulds, which encourages making full use of this problematic by-product.

Volatile compounds in pressed ewes' milk cheese with saffron spice (Crocus sativus L.)

“…Unfortunately, these differences could be caused in the saffron extraction process, presumably, because safranal could be interacting with caseins and lipids of milk and thus influence extraction efficiency (Librán et al . ). This fact deserves further study to gain knowledge about safranal extraction.…”

A Review of the Preservation of Hard and Semi-Hard Cheeses: Quality and Safety

“…The AA and antimicrobial properties of saffron cheeses have been described, but the number of different cheeses made with saffron is currently very scarce. Thus, it would be of interest to know the contents of potential health-promoting compounds that can be transferred from saffron to the cheese matrix [ 120 , 121 , 122 ]. Different concentrations of saffron were added (concentrations were not indicated) to pressed pasteurized sheep milk cheeses ripened for 180 days.…”

Natural Preservatives from Plant in Cheese Making

“…Different scientific works also reported the addition of saffron to cheese [83][84][85] to generally enhance color and flavor of the dairy products [86]. Color and coloring properties of saffron are related to crocins [86], sugar esters of crocetin, while saffron aroma is mainly due to safranal [84], the degradation product of picrocrocin, which is responsible for the bitter taste of saffron [86]. Due to the presence of all these analytes, saffron is also considered a source of bioactive compounds [86].…”