Pine needles (Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud.) extract as a novel preservative in cheese

• Pine needles extract improved lipid oxidative stability by significantly lowering the TBARS and free fatty acid values.
• Pine needles extract significantly lowered the microbial counts.
• Pine needles extract improved sensory quality during storage.
• Pine needles extract may be commercially exploited as a natural preservative in cheese.

The study was conducted to explore the potential of pine needles (Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud.) extract as a novel preservative in cheese. Low fat Kalari, a hard and dry cheese, was used as a model system and treated with different concentrations of pine needles extract (0%, 2.5% and 5.0%) and aerobically packaged in low density polyethylene pouches and stored under refrigerated (4 ± 1 °C) conditions. Pine needles extract showed a significant effect on the lipid oxidative stability as the treated products exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) lower TBARS (mg malonaldehyde/kg) and free fatty acid (% oleic acid) values. A significant effect was also observed on the microbiological characteristics as the treated products showed significantly (p < 0.05) lower values for total plate count, psychrophilic count and yeast and mould count. Significantly (p < 0.05) higher scores were observed for various sensory parameters of the treated products. Pine needles extract improved the oxidative stability and storage quality of low fat Kalari and may be commercially exploited as a natural preservative in cheese like products.

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