Effect of basil seed and xanthan gum on physicochemical, textural, and sensory characteristics of low‐fat cream cheese

Abstract This study aims to produce fat‐reduced cream cheese using the different levels (0.25%–0.5%) of basil seed and xanthan gum by a RSM method. The basil seed, xanthan gum, and fat levels did not significantly influence the cream cheese's pH and acidity. With the fat reduction, textural properties were lost; for example, hardness, gumminess, and adhesiveness increased, and cohesiveness decreased. In addition, low‐fat cream cheese's sensory score (taste, mouthfeel, and overall acceptance score) was lower. However, adding basil seed and xanthan gum could improve water holding capacity (WHC), hardness, gumminess, cohesiveness, adhesiveness and scores of mouthfeel, and overall acceptance. Basil seed gum had a better impact than xanthan on fat‐reduced cream cheese properties among the two gums. In general, results showed that adding 0.5% basil and 0.5% xanthan into cream cheese could manufacture a product with a reduced‐fat level (19.04%). At the same time, its physicochemical, sensory, and textural attributes were similar to cream cheese with high fat (24%). In addition, the price of the obtained product was lower.

or skim milk and contains a high-fat level (Ong et al., 2020;Surber et al., 2021).There is a high trend for low-fat cream cheese production and consumption today.
The lower moisture level in non-fat solids, free fat, and proteolysis activity, and the great content of protein in low-fat cream cheese could cause defects such as weak flavor, structure and texture, and low acceptability (Aydinol & Ozcan, 2018).To improve low-fat cheeses' textural and sensory properties, some methods, such as homogenization, the addition of capsule-forming bacteria cultures, and modifications to process conditions were applied (Khanal & Bansal, 2020).In recent years, the utilization and incorporation of fat alternatives, macromolecules with similar physical and chemical properties to triglycerides, and protein and carbohydrate-based fat replacers into cheese were recommended to resolve some mentioned defects (Hammam & Ahmed, 2019).Fat replacers showed different functional attributes that may improve the structure and sensory characteristics of low-fat cheeses (Syan et al., 2022).
Basil seed gum is a surface-active hydrocolloid with stabilizing and emulsifying properties obtained from Ocimum basilicum L. seeds (Razavi & Naji-Tabasi, 2023;Yang et al., 2021).In the current years, basil seed gum utilization has increased (Ghasempour et al., 2020;Hosseini-Parvar et al., 2015;Lee & Chin, 2017;Naji-Tabasi & Razavi, 2017;Saengphol & Pirak, 2018;Sara Naji-Tabasi, 2016).The application of basil seed gum along with other gums such as xanthan, Κ-carrageenan and guar as fat-replacer in some products was considered (Biglarian et al., 2021(Biglarian et al., , 2022;;Hesarinejad et al., 2021;Shamsaei et al., 2017).However, no published reports in the literature about the simultaneous utilization of basil seed gum and xanthan as fat-replacer in low-fat cream cheese are available.Adding both the mentioned gums into cream cheese could influence product properties.This study aimed to optimize the physicochemical, textural, and sensory properties of low-fat cream cheese containing basil seed and xanthan gum.

| Cream cheese preparation
Two types of cream cheese were produced: control cream cheese samples (without basil seed and xanthan gum) and reduced low-fat cream cheese samples containing various levels (0-0.5%) of basil seed and/or (0-0.5%)xanthan gum.For preparing control cream cheese, milk was pasteurized (74-78°C for 16 s) and ultrafiltrated.
The obtained retentate or condensed milk is mixed with the required amount of animal cream containing 40% fat, pasteurized (76-78°C for 60 s), and homogenized (at a pressure of 50-70 bar).Then, the temperature of the retentate reached 30°C, and starter culture and rennin were added.When the pH of the samples reached 4.8, sodium chloride (0.7%) was added to deactivate the mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria and stop the fermentation process.After ensuring the suitable mixing of the salt with the curd, samples were homogenized (at a pressure of 150-200 bar) and pasteurized (76°C and 1 min), and packaged and stored (4-6°C).
For the production of low-fat cream cheese samples, basil seed and xanthan gum were added to the curd at the same time.Other steps are similar to the preparation of the control cream cheese sample.

| Physicochemical properties
For the assessment of cheese's physicochemical properties, AOAC official method was utilized (Horwitz, 2010).The acidity was determined as titratable acidity (AOAC 947.05).Fat content was determined by the Rosse-Gottlieb method (AOAC 933.05).Protein level was obtained by measuring total nitrogen using the Kjeldahl method (AOAC 920.123).
To measure the water holding capacity (WHC), 5 g of cream cheese samples is poured into a falcon tube and centrifuged (4058 × g for 20 min at 8°C).The supernatant solution was decanted, and the precipitate was weighed.Finally, WHC is calculated according to the following Equation 1 (Mousavi et al., 2019a(Mousavi et al., , 2019b)):

| Textural profile analysis
Textural parameters, including hardness, gumminess, cohesiveness, and adhesiveness, were determined by using texture profile analysis (TPA) (Zwick Company, Ulm, Germany) according to the previous study (Mousavi et al., 2019a(Mousavi et al., , 2019b)).For texture analysis, the back-extrusion test in 4 cycles was applied.The cylindrically shaped probe with a diameter of 40 mm penetrated samples until the depth of 25 mm, with a rate of 10 mm/s.

| Sensory evaluation
After 1 day of cold storage of cream cheese samples, a five-point hedonic scale test was utilized for sensory evaluation (Mousavi et al., 2019a(Mousavi et al., , 2019b)).This experiment was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Hamadan University of Medical Science (Ethical code: IR.UMSHA.REC.1399.527).Fifty people were non-trained panel test samples.One hundred grams of each sample was presented to each person to assess it for taste, mouthfeel, appearance, and overall acceptability.

| Experimental designs and analysis of data
The response surface method (RSM) was utilized to show the influence of various independent attributes of produced cream cheese samples.Independent variables were fat levels (X 1 ), basil seed gum concentration (X 2 ), and xanthan gum concentrations (X 3 ); responses were pH, acidity, protein, moisture, WHC, hardness, gumminess, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, taste, mouthfeel, appearance, and overall acceptability obtained from design expert software contained 20 runs.The variables chosen for basil seed gum and xanthan gum concentration were 0%-0.5%, while for fat content was 16%-24%.The response of dependent variables in each independent variable level is shown in Table 1.
The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the determination of model, lack-of-fit, pure error, and other statistical calculations shown in Table 2 were performed by Software of Design-Expert version 12.0.0(Version 12; Stat-Ease Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA)

| Optimization
For optimization, responses such as protein content, moisture content and cohesiveness, and WHC and taste, mouthfeel, appearance, and overall acceptability scores were selected at maximum value and hardness, adhesiveness, and gumminess at minimum level.Other dependent variables, such as pH, acidity, and independent variables, basil seed gum and xanthan gum concentration, and fat amount, were placed within the range (between lower and higher levels).
The protein content of cream cheese samples ranged from 4.05% to 5.97%.The highest amount of protein (5.97%) was observed in samples without basil and xanthan gum containing 16% fat.While the lowest amount of protein (4.05%) was observed in samples without basil seed and xanthan gum containing 24% fat.The findings showed that basil and xanthan gum had no significant effect on protein, although the amount of fat had a significant effect (p < .05) on protein.Collectively, protein content followed the linear model, and the lack of fit of this model was insignificant.
The moisture content of cream cheese containing a high basil seed and xanthan gum was greater, while moisture content had an opposite relationship with fat value.The highest moisture value (74.25%) was related to cheese samples containing 16% fat, 0.5% basil seed, and 0.5% xanthan gum.The results showed that the fat and basil seed gum content had a significant effect (p < .05) on moisture, although the xanthan gum effect was insignificant .Experimental results demonstrated that moisture content followed the quadratic polynomial model (Table 3): Our finding was similar to Jooyandeh et al. (2017).They observed that fat reduction in Iranian White cheese containing Persian and almond gums was accompanied by a significant increase in moisture and protein amounts (Jooyandeh et al., 2017).
There were significant differences in WHC among various samples (p < .05).The findings of design expert software showed that a quadratic model could significantly predict the WHC as a function of fat, basil seed, and xanthan gum amount.This model is well fitted (p < .001,F-value = 16.02) and also showed a nonsignificant lack of fit (Table 2).The equation for WHC included the following: Based on the coded factor's coefficient, fat levels' effect on the WHC of cream cheese samples was more than basil and xanthan amounts (Table 3).The lowest WHC value (62.4%) was observed in cream cheese without basil seed and xanthan gum containing 16% fat.However, cream cheese with 24% fat containing 0.5 or 0.25% basil seed gum and 0.25% xanthan gum had the greatest WHC (100%).Collectively, with an increment of fat (X 1 ) and basil seed (X 2 ), and xanthan gum (X 3 ) levels, WHC was significantly increased (Figure 1b1-b3).Our results regarding the influence of fat decrease and fat replacer incorporation on cheese WHC and moisture increment agree with the literature (Carocho et al., 2016;Naji-Tabasi & Razavi, 2016, 2017;Ribas et al., 2019).WHC is an important characteristic of cream cheese and indicates the stability of the coagulation conditions of the cream cheese gel network.

| Texture properties assessment
Hardness is the required force value to penetrate texture analyzer teeth into cheese.The hardness of cream cheese samples containing a higher fat level was significantly lower (p < .05).The fat reduction increased hardness while incorporating basil and xanthan into the cheese, resulting in reduced harness (Figure 2a1-a3).The data obtained by the design expert showed hardness of cheese samples (2) TA B L E 1 Experimental design and results of dependent variables.With the fat reduction, the texture was tighter, although the addition of basil seed and xanthan gum caused moisture to entrap within the cheese was increased and created a softer texture (Sharafi et al., 2019).In the previous studies, the authors reported that various fat replacers such as xanthan, novel, galactomannan, basil, and WPC80 decreased cheese harness, similar to our finding (Aminifar et al., 2014;Rashidi et al., 2015;Ribas et al., 2019;Sharafi et al., 2019).Contrary to our results, Hosseini-Parvar et al. (2015) found that an increment in the level of basil seed gum resulted in more hardness in processed cheese (Hosseini-Parvar et al., 2015).
concentration) employed (p < .05).The highest amount of gumminess (4.33 N) was found in cheese containing the lowest fat content (16%) without any basil and xanthan gum, while the lowest gumminess (0.5 N) was observed in samples with 24% fat and 0.5% basil seed and 0.5% xanthan gum.Based on the previous research, the fat reduction and incorporation of gums, including tragacanth and Simpless-D 100, decreased cheese gumminess, and this finding was similar to our results (Milani et al., 2017;Romeih et al., 2002;Saint-Eve et al., 2009).The results of this study were similar to other studies.For example, Nateghi (2020) showed that using xanthan gum and a low level of sodium caseinate reduced the gumminess in reduced-fat cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese (Nateghi, 2020).As well, the utilization of inulin in synbiotic UF soft cheese, basil essential oil in UF soft cheese, Persian and almond gums in low-fat UF cheese, xanthan, and soy protein isolate in processed cheese, basil seed, and xanthan in Iranian lowfat white cheese caused a decrease gumminess level (Abedini & Nateghi, 2017;Ghods Rohani & Rashidi, 2019;Hayam et al., 2017;Rostamabadi et al., 2016Rostamabadi et al., , 2017)).Our results about reducing gumminess due to basil seed and xanthan gum were opposite to other research (Abiri & Bolandi, 2016;Ghods Rohani & Rashidi, 2019;Khani, 2019;Mahrooghi et al., 2017;Mohammadzadeh Milani et al., 2017).However, the mentioned authors declared that the increasing galactomannan and novel content caused decreased cohesiveness.Also, Nateghi et al. (2012) found that changes in the cohesiveness of different reduced-fat cheddar cheeses containing xanthan gum and/or sodium caseinate were non-significant compared with the full-fat control sample (Nateghi et al., 2012).Using β-glucan in lowfat cheddar cheese had the same cohesiveness behavior (Konuklar et al., 2004).
Adhesiveness is the degree of adhesion of the samples to the teeth, or in other words, the force required to separate the materials stuck to the mouth (usually the palate) during the normal process of eating.Another definition of adhesion is the work required to overcome the adhesion forces between the surface of the food and the surface of other materials with which the food is in contact (Baghdadi et al., 2018;Zheng et al., 2016).In the case of cream cheese, this property is considered one of the textural defects.Low-fat cream cheese without gum had more adhesiveness value than high-fat samples.In the low-fat cream cheese, protein and moisture were higher.Therefore, protein-water interactions were increased, and it caused enhancement of the adhesiveness (Nateghi et al., 2012).
The results of this study showed that the addition of basil seed gum and xanthan gum reduces adhesiveness.The lowest adhesiveness (14.23 N) was observed in samples containing 0.5% basil seed gum, xanthan gum, and 24% fat.The variance analysis findings indicate that the quadratic effect of fat, basil seed gum, and xanthan gum on the degree of adhesiveness of the low-fat cream cheese was significant (p < .05).The trend of the influence of all three independent factors on adhesiveness is inverse (Figure 2d1-d3).Hence the increment of the fat and both gums could reduce the adhesiveness.
The basil seed and xanthan gum increased the product consistency, kept the protein-fat matrix particles together more firmly, and prevented them from sticking to the surrounding environment.Our results were similar to the previous studies.For example, Baghdadi et al. (2018) found that incorporating basil seed gum into brined cheese could decrease adhesiveness (Baghdadi et al., 2018).Also, Salvatore et al. (2014) found that fresh cheese samples containing inulin had lower adhesiveness (Salvatore et al., 2014).The opposite of our findings, Ghods Rohani and Rashidi (2019) reported that adding konjac and xanthan to spreadable processed cheese increased adhesiveness (Ghods Rohani & Rashidi, 2019).Zheng et al. (2016) pointed out that the adhesiveness of sliced cheese was correlated positively with fat content (Zheng et al., 2016).

| Sensorial properties
The sensory characteristics of cream cheese samples are shown in Figure 3. RSM model for the taste, mouthfeel, and overall acceptance of cream cheese was quadratic (Table 1) and significant.Results showed that fat reduction caused taste, mouthfeel, appearance, and overall acceptance score loss.Previous studies reported a loss of sensory properties for low-fat cheese (Sharafi et al., 2019).Adding basil seed and xanthan gum could not significantly impact taste and appearance; therefore, reduced-fat cream cheese had lower scores for the mentioned properties than samples with higher fat.Xanthan gum had not a significant effect on mouthfeel and overall acceptance score.At the same time, adding basil seed gum to fat-reduced cream cheese could improve the score of mentioned attributes.The highest overall acceptance score (4.1) was related to cream cheese with 24% fat, and the sample containing 16% fat had the lowest overall acceptance score (26).The findings were similar to some previous studies.For example, Aydinol and Ozcan (2018) found that adding inulin and oat b-glucan into reduced-fat Labneh cheese caused better flavor than all the low-fat cheeses (Aydinol & Ozcan, 2018).
weight of precipitate∕the initial weight of cream cheese) × 100 Regression coefficients of coded factors for the responses.
(%) B: Basil seed gum (%) Cohesiveness indicates the necessary force content for breaking of inner bond links of the product.The cohesiveness level was in the range of 0.36 to 0.89 N. As seen in Figure 2c1-c3, cohesiveness was directly related to fat reduction and the increment of basil and xanthan gum concentration.Therefore, the linear equation could significantly forecast the cohesiveness as a function of fat content and basil and xanthan gum level.This model is well fitted (p < .01,Fvalue = 16.96) and also indicated as following: Sharafi et al. (2019) found that the fat reduction in ultra-filtrated low-fat cheese decreased cohesiveness, similar to our findings.
Cohesiveness (N) = 0.6074 − 0.1089X 1 + 0.0486X 2 + 0.0604X 3 F I G U R E 3Response surface plot of the effects of basil seed and xanthan gum and fat content on the cream cheese sensory properties including taste (a1, a2, seed gum (%) C: Xanthan gum (%) ANOVA for responses by response surface method.