Effect of kefir use on product properties in cheese ball production

Since the taste of kefir, which is a functional food, is not liked by consumers, its consumption is limited. In this study, kefir was concentrated by centrifugation and turned into edible cheese balls by adding salt. Cheese ball divided into 5 groups: K0 group containing 100% white cheese, K25 group containing 25% concentrated kefir-75% white cheese, K50 group containing 50% concentrated kefir-50% white cheese, K75 group containing 75% concentrated kefir-25% white cheese, and K100 group containing 100% concentrated kefir. Physicochemical, textural, rheological and sensory analyzes of the samples were carried out. According to the results of the analysis applied to the cheese balls, it was determined that the group with the highest values in terms of dry matter, protein, pH, b*, c*, hardness and gumminess was K100, followed by K75, and the lowest values were in the K0 group, except for the hardness value. As a result of the rheological analysis, it was seen that the Storage modulus (G') was higher than the Loss modulus (G") in all cheese ball samples. It was determined that K100 and K25 had the highest G' value. As a result of sensory analysis, K100 and K75 received the highest scores in terms of color and appearance, structure and consistency, and general acceptability criteria, respectively. With this study, it was concluded that concentrated kefir can be used alone or mixed with white cheese in different proportions in the production of cheese balls, thus increasing the nutritive value and sensory scores of the product. It is thought that by producing and presenting kefir as a functional food in different forms that consumers can enjoy, consumers' demands for healthy products will be met, and an improvement in the use of kefir in gastronomic terms will be achieved.