Functionality of Pizza Cheese as Affected Using Saccharomyces boulardii Adjunct Culture During Refrigerated Storage

Background: Mozzarella/Pizza cheese remains the preferred choice for topping pizza. There is currently no information available on the production of Pizza cheese employing Saccharomyces boulardii as an adjunct culture. The research was conducted to study the influence of S. boulardii adjunct culture on the functional properties of Pizza cheese during refrigerated storage. Methods: Experimental Pizza cheese was manufactured using a blend of homogenized and unhomogenized milks (1:1; cheese designated as CBHM). Control cheese was prepared from unhomogenized milk involving stretching of curd, post whey draining. Result: The baking properties viz., meltability as well as melting time were markedly affected by T, P and the interaction T´P. The fat leakage and stretch length of cheeses were markedly affected by T and P only. The melt and fat leakage values exhibited marked increase with the advancement of the storage period. It is recommended to consume such cheese before 21 days since CBHM cheese elicits the desirable baking characteristics up to 21 days.