Vegetables as Functional Ingredients in Cheese and Cheese-like Products

Suneeta Valentine Pinto; Zenith Patel

Abstract

Cheese is an excellent dietary source of high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals such as absorbable dietary calcium. However, it lacks in certain phytonutrients like antioxidants and polyphenols. The enrichment of cheese products with vegetables is an effective way to promote functionality by improving rheological and physicochemical properties of the final product.Vegetables with higher dietary fibres could be used to improve the fiber content of cheese and cheese like products. In addition, some of desirable functional properties, such as water binding and holding, gelling and thickening ability of certain fruits and vegetables enable them to be used as potent stabilizing agent. This manuscript reviews different application of such vegetables in cheese andcheese like product such as antimicrobial agent, prebiotic, fat replacer, source of antioxidant and fiber. By using vegetables to replace their chemical or synthetic counter parts we can provide consumers with a clean label and support the product as complete natural or chemical free. Adding the vegetables to cheese are accepted by the consumers and can contribute to the production anddevelopment of a new cheese varieties. Fortifying cheese with vegetables help explore new flavours and colours using same cheese as a base material.

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