Evaluation Of The Potential Of Adding Tiger Nut Milk And Soy Milk Into Cheese Making.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of incorporating tiger nut milk and soy milk in cheese making. In all 16 different formulations were prepared from tiger nut milk, soy milk and cow milk. Texture analysis, colour evaluation and chemical analysis were carried out on all the 16 cheese samples. Two parameters were measured (firmness and fracturability). Protein, fat, moisture content and pH were determined with respect to the chemical analysis. For the colour evaluation, L* value was determined. Microbiological analysis was carried out on 4 samples, which had the least and the most amounts of soy milk, tiger nut milk and combinations of the two. Sensory evaluation was done for 6 products. Data from the physico-chemical analysis was analysed with the statistical package Minitab version 14. A one-way anova was used to analyse data from the sensory evaluation. There were statistical differences between the samples with respect to the texture measurements. In general, firmness of the cheese samples increased as soy milk was added and decreased as the amount of added tiger nut milk was increased. The fracturability of the samples increased as soy milk was increased and decreased as tiger nut milk was increased. There were also significant differences between the colour readings of the samples (p < 0.05). All the counts for the microbiological quality of the four cheese products were below the maximum acceptable limit set by Ghana Standards Authority. There were significant differences in chemical composition for the 16 cheese samples (p < 0.05). The pH, moisture, fat and protein contents increased in the cheese samples as the amount of added tiger nut milk, soy milk or combinations of the two was increased. For the acceptance test, formulation 7 (200 ml of tiger nut milk and 50 ml of soy milk) was the cheese product accepted best by the sensory panel. Based on the findings of this work, it can be concluded that developing cheese xv products from tiger nut milk and soy milk is feasible and the developed cheese product could be used as a spread on bread and other baked products. We recommend formulation 7 (200 ml of tiger nut milk and 50 ml of soy milk) because it was preferred by the sensory panel when compared with the other formulations. Adding tiger nut milk beyond the 200 ml that was used for formulation 7 produced soft cheese, while adding more soy milk beyond the 50 ml used for formulation 7 produced a hard cheese with a beany flavour.