Effect of Mulberry Fruit Juice and Hydrolysate on the Chemical, Physiochemical and Bioactive properties of Cheese

Chooi, Jia Wei (2020) Effect of Mulberry Fruit Juice and Hydrolysate on the Chemical, Physiochemical and Bioactive properties of Cheese. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Mulberry fruit is a perishable food which is high in nutritional value especially high in phytochemicals but short shelf-life. It is an abundant source of bioactive compounds and exhibits health-promising activities. In the present study, enzyme pretreatment was introduced to mulberry fruit prior to extraction aiming to enhance the release of bioactive compounds. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of selected enzyme pretreatment on the chemical and bioactive properties of mulberry fruit extract. Mulberry fruit extract prepared from pectinase pretreatment has stronger antioxidant activity with DPPH activity of 37.01 ± 0.24 % and FRAP value of 84.38 ± 1.73 mg of FSE per g of dried mulberry fruit, anti-diabetic activity by α-amylase inhibition activity of 71.11 ± 2.55 % and anti-inflammatory activity by albumin denaturation inhibition activity of 30.47 ± 0.57 % which are significantly higher than the untreated control. Therefore, pectinase pretreatment has been selected as the best treatment in this study due to the positive effect shown in enhancing bioactivities of mulberry fruit extract. Mulberry fruits having potential as a functional ingredients supplement in developing health-enhancing food products. Fortification of cheese with mulberry extract, LAB and both of them has been carried out to evaluate their effect on the physiochemical, chemical and bioactive properties of cheese. However, poor results were obtained may be due the ineffective extraction method chosen. Only cheese fortified with LAB have shown high anti-diabetic activity of 83.95 ± 0.00 % and mild anti-inflammatory activity of 34.09 ± 2.86 %. In addition, no significant differences were observed in hardness of fortified cheeses and control. Further investigation was conducted on the effect of in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the chemical and bioactive properties of the fortified cheeses. Digestion have given a quite positive effect on bioactivities of fortified cheeses due to further release of the bioactive compounds within the fortified cheeses. Among the fortified cheeses, the greatest enhancement was observed from the cheese fortified with mulberry fruit extract with higher total phenolic content of 15.77 ± 0.07 mg of GAE per g of cheese, DPPH activity of 85.48 ± 0.41 %, FRAP value of 3.75 ± 0.17 mg of FSE per g of cheese after intestinal phase while higher total flavonoid content of 0.72 ± 0.07 mg of QE per g of cheese, anti-diabetic activity of 87.04 ± 2.62 % after gastric phase. Hence, mulberry fruits have great potential in enhancing the bioactivities of cheese and may be a suitable source of functional ingredient.