Quality characteristics of croissant stuffed with imitation processed cheese containing microalgae Chlorella vulgaris biomass.

Microalgae are able to enhance the nutritional content of conventional foods and hence to positively affect human health, due to their original chemical composition. The aim of the present study was to prepare fresh croissant filled with imitation cheese enriched with different amounts of Chlorella vulgaris biomass and to assay the quality parameters of the resulted croissant. Chemical composition of algal biomass, imitation cheese and croissant, as well as texture of cheese, staling rate, yeasts and moulds counts and sensory evaluation of resulted croissants were determined. The incorporation of microalgae resulted in an increase of quality parameters of croissant treatments when compared to the control sample. The chemical composition and staling rate of croissant remained relatively stable with the addition of cheese enhanced with microalgae. Results from sensory analysis of croissants filled with imitation cheese enhanced with different quantity of Chlorella vulgaris biomass showed that the using of these microalgae in imitation cheese improved the sensory quality characteristics of croissants. Use of 2 and 3 % of the microalgae significantly (P 0.05) impact on better croissants taste, texture and eating quality. The results obtained are in accordance with the aim of this work to develop innovative croissant that are attractive to consumers with similar texture and flavor profiles to those of the traditional common croissant.