Ibrahim Osama Abd El-Hamid, Mohamed Ashraf Gaber, Bahgaat Wafaa Kamel
National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
Acta Sci Pol Technol Aliment. 2019 Jan-Mar;18(1):75-85. doi: 10.17306/J.AFS.0607.
The essential oils of edible and medicinal plants, herbs and spices are natural biologically ac- tive agents. Peppermint has a special position in Egyptian culture and is used as fresh or dried leaves. One of the main aims of the food industry is to manufacture products with good sensory acceptance. The present study aims to produce a novel attractive cheese with a low concentration of natural peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oil (PEO). Moreover, PEO volatile composition, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity extracted by the hydro-distillation of peppermint fresh leaves were investigated.
Volatile components of PEO were identified using a GC-MS instrument. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were determined using the DPPH radical scavenging method for PEO. Moreover, PEO-flavored cheeses at a level of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ppm compared to plain cheese were analyzed for sensorial, chemical and rheological properties during storage at 5°C.
Identification of PEO’s volatile compounds using GC-MS with a flame ionization detector analy- sis showed that the main components were menthol (37.62%), menthone (20.98%), carvone (11.76%), dihydro carveol acetate (11.23%), cineol (5.89%), β-caryophyllene (2.94), limonene (2.78%) and iso-menthone (2.39). Moreover, the antioxidant activity of PEO was 56.03 (%) with a TPC of 0.299 (mg/ml). Sensory evaluation of cheese showed the flavor and body and texture of PEO-flavored cheeses were higher than plain cheese during the storage period. There were no significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in the cheese’s appearance nor in the chemical composition of plain and PEO-flavored cheeses. However, the TVFA and SN of plain cheese was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower than PEO cheeses at the level of 60, 80 and 100 ppm during the storage period.
Hydro-distillation of Egyptian peppermint leaves revealed a lot of volatile compounds and antioxidant activity for the resulting essential oil; Moreover, the presence of PEO in cheese leading to enhanced TVFA and SN nitrogen contents compared to plain cheese may offer a novel flavored cheese with desirable multifunctional health effects in humans. Peppermint-flavored cheese was more accepted than plain cheese and survived without any defects until the end of the cheese storage period.
食用和药用植物、草药及香料的精油是天然生物活性剂。薄荷在埃及文化中具有特殊地位，其鲜叶或干叶均可使用。食品工业的主要目标之一是生产具有良好感官接受度的产品。本研究旨在生产一种添加低浓度天然薄荷（薄荷属薄荷）精油（PEO）的新型诱人奶酪。此外，还对薄荷鲜叶经水蒸馏提取的PEO的挥发性成分、总酚含量（TPC）和抗氧化活性进行了研究。
使用气相色谱 - 质谱联用仪鉴定PEO的挥发性成分。采用DPPH自由基清除法测定PEO的总酚含量和抗氧化活性。此外，将添加了浓度为20、40、60、80和100 ppm PEO的调味奶酪与原味奶酪进行比较，分析其在5℃储存期间的感官、化学和流变学特性。
使用配有火焰离子化检测器的气相色谱 - 质谱联用仪对PEO的挥发性化合物进行鉴定，结果表明主要成分有薄荷醇（37.62%）、薄荷酮（20.98%）、香芹酮（11.76%）、乙酸二氢香芹酯（11.23%）、桉叶素（5.89%）、β-石竹烯（2.94%）、柠檬烯（2.78%）和异薄荷酮（2.39%）。此外，PEO的抗氧化活性为（56.03）%，TPC为0.299（mg/ml）。奶酪的感官评价表明，在储存期间，添加PEO的调味奶酪的风味、质地和口感均高于原味奶酪。原味奶酪和添加PEO的调味奶酪在外观和化学成分上无显著（p≤0.05）差异。然而，在储存期间，原味奶酪的挥发性脂肪酸（TVFA）和非蛋白氮（SN）含量在60、80和100 ppm水平时显著（p≤0.05）低于添加PEO的奶酪。
埃及薄荷叶的水蒸馏法揭示了所得精油中有许多挥发性化合物和抗氧化活性；此外，与原味奶酪相比，奶酪中添加PEO导致TVFA和SN氮含量增加，这可能提供一种对人体具有理想多功能健康影响的新型调味奶酪。薄荷味奶酪比原味奶酪更受欢迎，并且在奶酪储存期结束前均无任何缺陷。
