Effect of Xanthan Gum and Carboxymethyl Cellulose on Chemical and Sensory Properties of Cream Cheese

Cream cheese produced from pasteurized milk and cream which has soft texture and mild flavor and is one of the most delicious cheese and has high fat and humidity. Nowadays, problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and cancer are due to consumpting the high fat products, so reducing the fat in foods is very attractive field. In this study, the effect of xanthan gum at level 0.05, 0.17, 0.3 and carboxymethyl cellulose at 0.02, 0.11, 0.2 on chemical and sensory properties of cream cheese was studied. Chemical results showed that there was no significant difference in pH value between treatments. Protein and dry matter content of the samples ranged from 6.005% to 7.31% and 30.02% to 30.975% respectively. Increasing the level of xanthan and CMC in cream cheese resulted in decrease the dry matter content. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in protein and NaCl content between treatments with increase the used gums, but about fat had not effect. The results of sensory properties including texture, flavor, odor, color and overall acceptability showed that replacing xanthan and CMC had not adverse impact on the organoleptical characteristics of cream cheese and general acceptance of the product was good. The lower levels of xanthan in combination with each of the three levels; 0.02, 0.11, 0.2 CMC gum were more acceptable than other samples.