Mucilago of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) As inoculum to improve the flavor and texture of mozzarella cheese

Abstract

Mozzarella cheese was made using levels of cocoa mucilage as a starter culture. To obtain the mucilage, the fresh almonds were filtered through a canvas with a porosity of 2? and collected in stainless steel buckets, where they were fermented for 48 hours at room temperature, immediately stored at 4 ° C in sterile flasks; then it is added to the milk as an inoculant at a temperature of 37 ° C / 25 minutes prior to the curdling of the cheese. A completely randomized statistical design was applied with three treatments plus a control and four repetitions, comparing the means using Tukey's multiple range test at 5% probability. Mozzarella cheese was physically, chemically and organoleptically analyzed. According to the statistical analysis, there are no statistical differences regarding pH, fat and organoleptic characteristics between the treatments under study; while moisture, dry matter, protein, phosphorus, calcium and elasticity showed significant differences between treatments. Treatment with 5% cocoa mucilage favorably highlighted most of the physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics; presenting the absence of pathogenic microorganisms and a ratio of 9.4 liters of milk per kg of mozzarella.