β-Cyclodextrin as the Key Issue in Production of Acceptable Low-Cholesterol Dairy Products

The application of cyclodextrins in food technology is extensive due to their unique ability to form complexes with many bioactive substances. Consumption of dairy products is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) due to its high content of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, so the production of low-cholesterol content products would be one of the critical steps in CVD prevention with regards to lowered total daily cholesterol intake. To maintain consumer acceptance, organoleptic profiles of such products should be, in the optimal case, the same with comparison to original ones. So, this study deals with the development of set low cholesterol foods (milk, cream, butter, soft cheese, cottage cheese) by β-cyclodextrin treatment and the characterization of their organoleptic profiles such as color and textural characteristics. During the experiments, high effectivity of cholesterol removal was reached as follows: milk–97.3%, cream–95.6%, butter–95.6%, cottage cheese–97.9%, soft cheese–97.7%, while color differences varied from 0.25 to 1.13 and textural characteristics were not influenced by cholesterol removal as well. So, it can be concluded that the proposed procedure is enabled to be substantial for the production of a new assortment of low-cholesterol dairy products with considerable health benefits toward the incidence of CVD.

The effect of treatment conditions on color characteristics and measure of cholesterol removal from milk by beta-cyclodextrin application

Long-term high cholesterol intake is one of the most critical risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). As milk and dairy products are rich in cholesterol and are consumed on a large scale, the production of low-cholesterol content products could decrease effectively high cholesterol intake what would be one of the crucial steps in CVD prevention. Thus, this study is aimed at optimization of treatment conditions (mixing speed, time, and temperature) and β-cyclodextrin addition affecting the measure of cholesterol removal in milk. As found, the optimal conditions were identified such as mixing speed 840 rpm, mixing time 10 min, and the temperature of mixing 25 °C while the most effectivity in cholesterol decrease content (98.1%) was observed after 2.0% β-cyclodextrin addition. The cholesterol removal process did not affect considerably the lightness values L* of treated milk, slight differences were noticed in terms of a* and b* color values but ΔE values were statistically insignificant, i.e., the process of cholesterol removal did not affect visual characteristics of treated milk. So, these conditions can be applied for the production of milk base functional foods with the decreased cholesterol content.

Effects of Cholesterol Extraction Process and Fat and Whey Protein Additions on Ice Cream Mixes

The aim of this work was to evaluate the cholesterol extraction process in ice cream mixes (ICMs) by using β-cyclodextrin (βCD) and to analyze the effect of this extraction on the ICM rheological, stability, and sensory characteristics. The effects of fat and whey protein (WP) additions on ICM stability were also evaluated. The maximum percentage obtained for cholesterol extraction was 93.6%. The flow curves indicated that ICM showed a thixotropic behavior before and after cholesterol extraction, which was enhanced when the fat content and/or percentage of βCD increased. The stability of ICM with cholesterol-reduced content (RCho-ICM) was influenced by the fat content and/or the presence of WP. The RCho-ICM with the highest fat and/or WP addition showed less tendency to melt and had the smallest amount of accumulated molten liquid. These latter ICMs presented the slowest melting rates. Also, RCho-ICMs proved to be more stable than ICMs. RCho-ICM samples obtained with a ratio of βCD/fat content of 1% w/w were evaluated by a trained sensory panel. In addition, an acceptability test of the sample with better sensory attributes was conducted. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The effects of a cholesterol extraction process and fat and whey protein additions on the rheological and stability characteristics of ice cream mixes were evaluated. The extraction of cholesterol from an ice cream mix is interesting from a nutritional point of view and the extraction process of cholesterol itself may also help to improve the mix stability by controlling the fat and/or whey protein contents. These findings may prove useful as a starting point for the rational design of new functional ice cream mixes.