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Increased popularity of goat cheese as functional food in the United States

Dr. Mali Reddy

Dr. Mali Reddy serves as president of the American Dairy and Food Consulting Laboratories and International Media and Cultures (IMAC Inc.), Denver, Colorado. He holds several degrees including Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in food technology and microbiology. He is a guest columnist for this week’s issue of Cheese Market News®.

Goat cheese is among the fastest-growing cheeses in the specialty food market sector in the United States. Starting from its modest beginnings, it has reached the shelves of supermarkets, grocery stores and the big box discount stores. Even pizzerias are using goat cheese as a topping. In recent years, functional foods and bioactive components in foods have been of immense interest for health-conscious consumers and nutritionists. Although functional foods may appear to be the same as conventional foods, they have various physiological benefits of reducing diseases besides their nutritive value. Goat cheeses have been categorized under functional foods because of the following therapeutic benefits of their components.

• Goat milk proteins

Generally, milk proteins are divided into casein (main protein) and whey proteins (lesser extent). The casein is composed of four fractions: alpha S1-casein, alpha S2-casein, beta-casein (A1 and A2), and kappa-casein.

Goat milk and goat cheese has less alpha S1-casein and significantly more alpha S2-casein compared to cow’s milk cheese. Since alpha S1-casein has been attributed to causing milk allergies, the reduced amount of such protein fraction is the reason goat cheese is considered non-allergenic or hypoallergenic. In addition, the A2 beta-casein is the highest fraction in the goat cheese and thus is easy to digest and the cause for lower frequency of allergic reactions in children. Nutritionally the goat cheese protein has higher levels of essential amino acids and health promoting non-essential proline and glutamic acid, in comparison to cow milk cheeses. The structural conformations and specifically the size of the protein micelles are smaller in goat milk (180 nanometers) than those of cow milk (260 nanometers), which explains why the goat milk cheese is easy to digest and the resulting products are highly bioavailable. The proteolytic end products of A2 beta casein of goat milk reduce the inflammation, gastrointestinal disturbances and lactose intolerance symptoms, whereas the proteolytic end products of A1 and A2 beta casein of cow milk induce severe gastrointestinal disorders and symptoms resembling lactose intolerance. It explains why goat milk cheese, upon consumption, can alleviate the lactose intolerance resembling symptoms in the lactose intolerant population.

• Goat milkfat

Goat milk has a larger concentration of medium chain fatty acids, such as capric, caprylic and caproic, which are 15% to 18% of the total fatty acids in comparison to 9% in cow’s milk. These medium chain fatty acids present in the goat cheese are easily absorbable. The high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids present in goat cheese helps to reduce the LDL (bad) cholesterol, and increase the HDL (good) cholesterol, and overall reduce the total cholesterol to improve the blood circulatory system to reduce the risk of cardiac diseases. In addition, it has been proven that the medium chain fatty acids present in goat cheese reduce arthritis and overall inflammation in the body, which is the prime cause for onset of any disease. Goat milk and goat cheeses have been proven to reduce hypertension by suppressing or inhibiting the hypertension promoting Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE), which participates in converting Angiotensin 1 to Angiotensin 2.

Angiotensin 2 is responsible for inducing high blood pressure and subsequent vascular damage leading to cardiac diseases. Goat milk has high concentrations of fat globules, which are smaller in diameter (3.0 micrometers) than in cow’s milk (4.0 micrometers). Once again, this explains why the digestibility and assimilation of the nutrients of the goat cheese are far superior, specifically for the older population and people with gastric disorders.

• Minerals, vitamins and other minor beneficial components in goat milk, cheese

The bioavailability of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron etc. present in goat cheese is significantly higher than cow’s milk cheese, and thus it is highly recommended to prevent osteoporosis etc. The goat cheese is nutritionally superior and thus provides optimum levels of recommended dietary allowances (RDA).

The goat cheese has been claimed to improve the probiotic fraction of the intestinal microbiota to enhance the immune system. The therapeutic biopeptides, oligosaccharides and lactoferrin etc. present in goat cheese act as antioxidants and antibacterial agents to protect and improve health.

• Technological improvements required to make goat cheese successfully

Although the goat milk proteins and fat are easily digestible due to their compositions and configurations, it still is a challenge to manufacture goat milk products, specifically cheese. Due to limited production and availability of goat milk, transportation and delivery times gets longer, creating another problem of keeping quality. The psychrotrophic (cold-loving) bacteria present in raw goat milk can degrade the protein and fat by producing protein and fat breaking enzymes. The best and economical solution is activation of protective lactoperoxidase system using the milk silo cultures as soon as the goat milk is received at the cheese plant.

The characteristic flavor of goat cheese is due to high concentration of capric, caprylic and caproic fatty acids. This flavor can be modulated using excellent selective starter cultures. The starter cultures selected must produce flavors which can synergistically blend with the goat milk flavor to arrive at an exceptionally acceptable cheese flavor, which can be reproduced easily and consistently. It is highly preferable to use bulk starters along with their growth end products (immunomodulins) and adjuncts to improve safety, quality, flavor and texture of the goat cheese. These practical suggestions to make remarkably good goat cheese (Chèvre) were shared by Glen Wood, general manager of Stickney Hill Dairy Goat Cheese, Rockville, Minnesota, who has won various championship medals for his outstanding goat cheese.

In conclusion, the health-promoting properties of goat cheese makes it a superior functional food, and this is the reason for significant annual growth of this sector of the industry. The United States should strive to produce the excellent quality goat cheese to make its mark on the world stage.

CMN

The views expressed by CMN’s guest columnists are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheese Market News®.

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