Short communication: norbixin and bixin partitioning in Cheddar cheese and whey.
The Cheddar cheese colorant annatto is present in whey and must be removed by bleaching. Chemical bleaching negatively affects the flavor of dried whey ingredients, which has established a need for a better understanding of the primary colorant in annatto, norbixin, along with cheese color alternatives. The objective of this study was to determine norbixin partitioning in cheese and whey from full-fat and fat-free Cheddar cheese and to determine the viability of bixin, the nonpolar form of norbixin, as an alternative Cheddar cheese colorant. Full-fat and fat-free Cheddar cheeses and wheys were manufactured from colored pasteurized milk. Three norbixin (4% wt/vol) levels (7.5, 15, and 30 mL of annatto/454 kg of milk) were used for full-fat Cheddar cheese manufacture, and 1 norbixin level was evaluated in fat-free Cheddar cheese (15 mL of annatto/454 kg of milk). For bixin incorporation, pasteurized whole milk was cooled to 55 °C, and then 60 mL of bixin/454 kg of milk (3.8% wt/vol bixin) was added and the milk homogenized (single stage, 8 MPa). Milk with no colorant and milk with norbixin at 15 mL/454 kg of milk were processed analogously as controls. No difference was found between the norbixin partition levels of full-fat and fat-free cheese and whey (cheese mean: 79%, whey: 11.2%). In contrast to norbixin recovery (9.3% in whey, 80% in cheese), 1.3% of added bixin to cheese milk was recovered in the homogenized, unseparated cheese whey, concurrent with higher recoveries of bixin in cheese (94.5%). These results indicate that fat content has no effect on norbixin binding or entrapment in Cheddar cheese and that bixin may be a viable alternative colorant to norbixin in the dairy industry.
Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695.
T J
TJ
Smith
Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695.
X E
XE
Li
Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695. Electronic address: maryanne_drake@ncsu.edu.
M A
MA
Drake
D000818:Animals; D031212:Bixaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002611:Cheese / Q000032:analysis*; D005505:Food Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D013649:Taste; D000067816:Whey Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D005505:Food Coloring Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000067816:Whey Proteins; D002338:Carotenoids; C054041:annatto; C004588:bixin; C099823:norbixin
annatto; bixin; cheese; norbixin; whey