Omega Cheese

Today, demand for food products of high nutritional value is increasing worldwide. In particular, it is estimated that the market for specialised ingredients (functional and additives) is estimated to exceed 30 US billion dollars. This is due, among other reasons, to people’s concern about purchasing healthy products that reduce the risk of specific conditions related to high cholesterol, obesity and low immune system. In fact, groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Nutrition (GAIN) are launching programmes around the world to enrich staple food with various specialized additives and functional ingredients.

Within the wide range of functional ingredients, polyunsaturated essential fatty acids have attracted a great deal of interest as they bring multiple benefits to human health. These include the ability to lower blood pressure in people with mild hypertension, as well as triglyceride and cholesterol levels. They also prevent the formation of clots in the arteries by preventing platelet aggregation, have anti-inflammatory function and promote the proper functioning of the immune system. Linolenic a-acid (a-LNA C18:3) called omega-3 (ω -3) and linoleic acid (ALA C18:2) known as omega-6 (ω-6) belong to this group, which mainly come from plant sources. In particular, several studies have shown that oil extracted from hemp seeds, of the cannabis variety with low THC content, has a high percentage of lipids of 35% of which about 60% corresponds to ω-6 and 20% to ω-3 (linoleic acid and linolenic a-acid, respectively). A fatty acid ratio (3:1) is recommended to maintain a balance between fats of the ω-6 and ω-3 series. The latter, added to the fact that both fatty acids make up more of the hemp seed oil and are precursors of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA C20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA C22:6) in the organism, has increased the market interest in developing products containing these compounds.

In fact, according to estimates made by Markets&Markets, the global market projection for specialized ingredients typified with “omega-3” will be close to 4336 million US dollars by 2019. According to the above, this project proposes microencapsulating hemp seed oil rich in ω-3 and ω-6 (linolenic acid and linoleic acid) using spray drying as an innovative technology, to later incorporate the microparticles in a line of functional cheeses of the company Agricultural Volcanoes SpA, that belongs to the group Lácteos Matthei. In this way, the technological development will make it possible to stabilize and prolong the functionality of the fatty acids of interest, in addition to releasing their content in a controlled manner under specific conditions of pH, humidity and temperature. These differentiating advantages will boost the commercialization of the final product, in a market that is currently growing steadily over time.