Physicochemical Characteristics of Almond-Based Cream Cheese (Prunus dulcis sp.)
Dian Widya Ningtyas* and Tory Diaz Alvito

Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia

*email: dianwidya_n[at]ub.ac.id

Abstract

An alternative to conventional cream cheese is essential, particularly due to the high prevalence of lactose intolerance in Asia, where 90% of the population is affected, and the dietary restrictions of vegan communities that rely exclusively on plant-based foods. Almond milk serves as a potential base for cream cheese, offering a plant-based alternative. However, cream cheese made from almond milk faces challenges in achieving desirable final product characteristics. This is primarily due to the functional differences between plant proteins and casein. Moreover, almond milk has a low protein content with a protein-to-fat ratio (PFR) below the optimal range of 0.81-1.02. Therefore, this study was conducted to formulate almond-based cream cheese with the addition of pea protein isolate and guar gum.

The addition of pea protein isolate and guar gum significantly influenced the physicochemical properties of the almond-based cream cheese, including moisture content, protein content, fat content, yield, color, and texture profile analysis (TPA). Cream cheese with 4.5% pea protein isolate and 0.5% guar gum (P3G3) shows to have the best characteristics as follows: 70.11% moisture content, 9.60% protein content, 13.31% fat content, 36.74% yield, a lightness (L*) value of 80.57, a yellowness (b*) value of 19.67, spreadability of 16.47 cm, hardness of 24.90 g, adhesiveness of 1.027 mJ, cohesiveness of 0.83, and moisture in non-fat solids (MNFS) of 80.88%. Hence, the non-dairy cream cheese made from almond milk has high potential to be developed further with a consumer study to understand the product acceptance.

Keywords: Almond Milk- Cream Cheese- Guar Gum- Pea Protein Isolate- Plant-based- Texture profile

Topic: Food science and biotechnology