2008 DEC 1 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to recent research from the United States, "Our objective was to determine if the acidity of whey protein solutions was responsible for their astringency. Panelists rated acidic whey protein and acid-only solutions for astringency and sourness."

  "Acidic whey protein solutions contained 6% or 1% whey protein isolate and phosphoric acid at a pH of 3.4. Acid-only solutions were formulated to match the whey protein solutions for either total acidity or for pH. The acid-only solutions matched for total acidity were more astringent than the whey-containing solutions, while those matched for pH were significantly less astringent. Sourness was reduced by the whey proteins, most likely because of the decreased concentration of free hydrogen ions," wrote C.A. Lee and colleagues, University of Minnesota ...read more

  2008 DEC 1 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Esters are common flavour compounds of cheese. Our aim was to investigate the impact of esters on the flavour of Swiss cheese," investigators in Rennes, France report.

  "Swiss cheeses were manufactured without (controls) or with (E) addition of ethanol to induce variations in ethyl ester concentrations. Cheese flavour was characterized by quantitative and qualitative (frequency of perception of 53 attributes) sensory evaluation. E cheeses contained similar to 9 times more ethanol (137 mu g g(-1)) and similar to 30 times more ethyl esters (26-172 ng g(-1)) than the controls. All cheeses had a typical Swiss cheese flavour. However, E cheeses were characterized by greater frequencies of perception of 'apricot/peach', 'caramel', 'pear', and 'pepper' odours, 'walnut' aroma, and a lower frequency of 'soap' odour and 'cooked cabbage' aroma," wrote R. Richoux and colleagues ...read more

  2008 DEC 1 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Fluorescence microscopy studies of fat globules in milk and milk products using fat-soluble stains (Nile Blue or Nile Red) allow visualisation of the neutral fat (core) of the globules, but provide no information about the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). We applied the lipophilic probes 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine-5,5'-disulfonic acid (DilC(18)(3)-DS) and N-(3-triethylammoniumpropyl)-4-(6-(4-(diethylamino)phenyl)hexatrienyl)pyridinium dibromide (FM4-64), as well as fluorescent conjugates of the lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA488, WGA594 and WGA647), to milk to stain specifically the MFGM in its native environment," investigators in Palmerston North, New Zealand report ...read more