Effectiveness of sweet ovine whey powder in increasing the shelf life of Amaretti cookies

The effect of sweet ovine whey powder on physical–chemical and textural changes during storage of Amaretti cookies is reported. The aim of the study was to study the impact of the ovine whey powder on the shelf life of cookies. Two batches of Amaretti cookies were prepared, with and without whey powder. Freshly baked Amaretti cookies were individually packaged with a high water vapour barrier film and stored for 120 days under controlled temperature/humidity conditions. Physico-chemical, textural and sensory changes were inspected at regular intervals during storage.The water-binding properties of ovine whey powder, as revealed by sorption isotherms and magnetic resonance imaging, resulted in delayed firming and increased shelf life of cookies with whey powder with respect to control cookies and did not influence the sensory properties. MRI allows visualizing differences in internal structure and proton distribution of the two batches of Amaretti cookies, pointing out the more homogeneous internal structure of the cookies where whey powder is added.