Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the antioxidant content of cheeses produced from animals whose diet consisted of at least 50% grazing. Previous experimental and clinical research has reported beneficial effects of polyphenol intake on highly prevalent diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. Polyphenols were measured in cheeses made from grazing animals (G) and from milk obtained from ruminants kept in Full Confinement (FC). Samples were analyzed using the superoxide anion test to determine the Degree of Antioxidant Protection (DAP), expressed as the molar ratio between antioxidant compounds and an oxidation target. On the other hand, 25 tastings were carried out with 350 participants, measuring according to taste on a scale from 1 to 10 the flavor of 6 cheeses, four from pasture and two from full confinement. It is concluded that through the bitter taste the consumer can distinguish pastured cheeses that contain polyphenols, the feeding system directly influences the degree of antioxidant protection of the cheese and can be identified by the bitter taste in cheeses that come from pasture or some mixture of pasture and full confinement. Results showed that DAP was significantly higher in pasturebased cheeses, with the highest value observed in G (11.17) compared with FC (3.42). Additionally, 30 field tasting trials were carried out with 350 participants, who rated the flavors of six cheeses (four from pasture and two from confinement) on a scale from 1 to 10. Consumers were able to distinguish grazing-based cheeses containing polyphenols by their bitter taste. The feeding system directly influenced antioxidant protection, and this characteristic could be identified through a bitter flavor. Results showed that those grass-fed cheeses with the highest polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity were the ones that achieved the highest scores in the consumer tasting.