ELECTROCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF THE STABILITY OF ASCORBIC ACID IN WHEY FROM CHEESE AND RICOTTA

Ascorbic acid has aroused particular interest due to its antioxidant capacity, which can prevent oxidative reactions. Cyclic voltammetry stands out as one of the main electrochemical techniques for antioxidant evaluation. The cheese and ricotta whey are subproducts of the dairy, and have several components that allow its use in various foods. The enrichment of subproducts with essential substances in food may make its use even more attractive by industries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of ascorbic acid in cheese and ricotta whey using cyclic voltammetry. For this, the cheese and ricotta whey were collected from a dairy industry of the Vale do Taquari-RS and were fortified with ascorbic acid and its stability was evaluated according to the electrochemical profiles of the samples. With the data obtained, it was concluded that one of the factors affecting directly the stability of ascorbic acid was the pH, but more studies are needed to evaluate other interfering stability of vitamin C.