Physicochemical, antioxidant, microstructure, textural, and organoleptic characteristics of soft cheese incorporated corn milk

Corn milk has been recently considered an innovation in milk products. In this regard, the current study was conducted to study the chemical composition of soft cheese made by replacing cow milk with corn milk at different concentrations of up to 40%. The moisture, acidity, total protein, fat, ash, bioactive components (total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity), cheese yield, microstructure, textural characteristics, and organoleptic characteristics of this soft corn-supplemented cheese were studied. Results obtained indicate that the increasing ratio of corn milk led to an increase in the content of phenolic components and DPPH scavenging activity. Cheese yield was increased by increasing the replacement ratio. The cheese, made by replacing up to 20% of cow milk with corn milk, had the highest sensory evaluation score. An electron microscopy examination showed that adding corn milk to soft cheese improved the microstructure. Novelty impact statement The industrialization of corn milk into cheese is very appealing in order to address the issues associated with low solid corn milk content. We produced potential, beneficial, and low-cost soft cheese by replacing cow milk with corn milk by up to 40%. The nutritional and technological value of the resulting cheese has significantly increased.