Comparative effects of natural and functional lipid sources on physicochemical, textural, sensory, and nutritional lipid indices of spreadable processed cheese analogue.

This study evaluated the effects of natural and functional lipid sources, including butter, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter substitute, flaxseed oil, and sunflower oil, on the quality of spreadable processed cheese analogues during 60 days of refrigerated storage. Formulations were standardized to comparable moisture, fat, and protein contents to isolate the effect of lipid type on physicochemical, techno-functional, nutritional, and sensory properties. Lipid source significantly influenced meltability, oil separation, fatty acid composition, nutritional lipid indices, and sensory acceptability. Flaxseed oil markedly improved the lipid profile by reducing saturated fatty acids from 65.06% in the control to 14.98% and increasing unsaturated fatty acids to 85.02%, which reduced the atherogenic and thrombogenic indices from 2.14 to 2.87 to 0.13, respectively. However, this improvement was accompanied by greater oil separation and lower sensory scores, indicating reduced emulsion and sensory stability. Butter and sunflower oil formulations showed the highest sensory acceptability, with scores ranging from 8.1 to 8.9. Overall, the findings demonstrate that lipid selection strongly influences the balance between nutritional improvement, techno-functional stability, and consumer acceptability in spreadable processed cheese analogues.