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Physicochemical Composition, Antioxidant Profile and Sensorial Acceptability of Melon Seed-Coconut Milk Alternative Cheese


A. N. Ukom
C. J. Madu
L. N. Nwanagba
A. C. Nwachukwu

Abstract

This work evaluated the physicochemical composition, antioxidant profile and sensory scores of melon seed-coconut (MS-CC) cheese formulated at the ratio of MS-CC milk: 90:10, 70: 30, 50:50, 70:30 with 100% cow milk (CM) as the control. The melon seed (MS) and coconut (CC) were purchased at Ubani main market, Umuahia, Abia State in good physiological condition and processed according to standard methods. The proximate results showed that the cheese produced from MS-CC milk had higher concentrations of moisture, protein, fat and fibre, especially in MS90:10CC cheese than the control cheese, which was higher in ash, carbohydrate and energy contents. Other physicochemical results showed that Na, Mg, P, K, Fe, Zn and vitamins E, BI and B3, pH and TS were higher in control cheese than the MS-CC cheese. However, Ca, TTA, vitamins A and B2 were higher in MS-CC cheese, especially the MS30:70CC formulation. The antinutrient properties revealed that alkaloids, saponin, tannin, phytate and cyanide were far higher in the MS-CC cheese, especially in MS90:10CC formulation which was about 1-9folds when compared to control cheese.  The correlation results shows that flavonoid correlated positively with DPPH and FRAP assays at R2 = 0.671, while phenol and ABTS, FRAP correlated negative at R2 = -0.873. The sensory scores revealed that the control, MS50:50CC and MS30:70CC cheese was above 70% in general acceptability. The study highlighted that acceptable substitute cheese can be made from MS30:70CC formulation and can be used to promote the diversification of MS-CC milk beyond the traditional usage.


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