BERRY ADDITIVES EFFECT ON THE COTTAGE CHEESE QUALITY AND PRESERVATION
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of currant, blackberry and strawberry additives on the quality of cottage cheese and its safety. The study was carried out on the basis of the laboratory of the Department of Technology of Storage and Processing of Agricultural Products of YSU named after I.A. Bunin (the Lipetsk Region). Cottage cheese was prepared from kefir with a fat content of 3.2 %. Kefir was heated in a water bath at a temperature of 55 °C, and after protein coagulation, the resulting mass was filtered through Agrotek non-woven fabric. In the variants with the addition of blackcurrant and blackberry berries, due to anthocyanins, the cottage cheese was stained in purple, with the addition of garden strawberries and red currants, the cottage cheese acquired a pink tint. It should be noted that only blackcurrant berries transferred their smell to cottage cheese. The largest amount of organic acids in terms of malic acid was in the variants with the addition of blackcurrant, strawberry and blackberry. The richest option in ascorbic acid and anthocyanins was cottage cheese with the addition of blackcurrant, flavonols - with the addition of blackberries, carotenoids - both of these options. The addition of strawberries, currants and blackberries to cottage cheese ensures the absence of molds for 47 days. Variants of sweet cottage cheese containing 6 % sugar and 4 % crushed strawberries and red currants meet the requirements of the standard for cottage cheese in terms of their moisture content and acidity and can be recommended for introduction into production. The shelf life of this product is 10 days.