Development of a new functional dairy product enriched in phytosterols: the importance of food chemistry

Among the chronic diseases related to the human diet, cardiovascular disease, which is associated to high levels of total cholesterol, is one of the most leading cause of death in the world [1]. Nowadays, the growing consumer awareness of their blood cholesterol level, has guided the food industry to respond by proponing new food products, which could satisfy consumer expectations. Therefore, during the recent years, the development of low-fat food products has considerably increased especially in the dairy sector. Another strategy has consisted to develop functional dairy products (F.D.P) containing phytosterols, which are steroid compounds occurring in plants and having a lowering effect on blood LDL-cholesterol [2]. This development of new functional food (F.F) is an interconnected process involving food industry companies, European commission regulations, marketing and scientists [3]. In this regard, researchers from the University of Camerino and a cheese producing company named SABELLI have come together to produce a new phytosterols-enriched ricotta cheese. To our knowledge, it is the first time that a ricotta cheese enriched in phytosterols is developed. The process leading to this new F.D.P has been a complex pathway with many challenges. Thus, the present report aims to show step by step all the food chemistry studies performed to realize this product. To obtain this F.F, we started by a) studying the nutritional composition of ricotta in order to assess its possible health claims; then, we have to challenge b) the development and the validation of a new low-cost and fast analytical method for phytosterols quantification using high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). However, due to their lack of chromophore group and their low ionization in mass spectrometry (MS), we have to innovate by developing a new derivatization method using dansyl chloride which allowed to detect plants sterols and stanols at 254 nm in DAD and highly increased their ionization in MS. The third step consisted to c) study the composition and the stability of phytosterols ingredients during ricotta production and storage. After validation, we finally d) studied different formulations for ricotta enrichment and assessed the effect of this enrichment on the organoleptic properties and the quality of the ricotta after its production and during its shelf-life. These studies illustrate in a practical way, the crucial role of food chemistry in functional foods development and therefore, the impact of this research field in the food industry growth and the improvement of the human health.