Microencapsulated Iron Fortification and Flavor Development in Cheddar Cheese

This study was designed to examine the effect of microencapsulated iron-fortified Cheddar cheese and L-ascorbic acid as a bioavailable helper of iron on chemical and sensory aspects. Coating material was PGMS, and ferric ammonium sulfate and Lascorbic acid were selected as core materials. The highest efficiency of microencapsulation of iron and L-ascorbic acid were 72 and 94%, respectively, with 5:1:50 ratio (w/w/v) as coating to core material to distilled water. TBA absorbance was significantly lower in microencapsulated treatments than those in uncapsulated treatments during ripening. The productions of short-chain free fatty acid and neutral volatile compound were not significantly different among treatments during ripening periods. In sensory aspects, bitterness, astrigency and sourness were higher in Cheddar cheese fortified with microencapsulated iron and uncapsulated L-ascorbic acid than others. The present study indicated that fortification of iron as well as L-ascorbic acid did not show any defect problem to Cheddar cheese, and suggested the possibility of iron fortification of Cheddar cheese. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2003. Vol 16, No. 8 : 12051211)