The application of cooking water abundant in phenolic compounds, obtained from cooking three types of beans (black soybean, yellow soybean and adzuki bean) and chestnut inner shell, to functional cheese product manufacturing was evaluated. Total phenolics in the cooking water were estimated by the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method and showed a wide range, from 24.4 to 761 mu g/mL. The antioxidant activity of extracts was determined by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging and oxygen radical antioxidant activity (ORAC) assays. Results of both antioxidant assays showed similar trends in total phenolic content; DPPH values ranged from 24.6 to 309.3 mu mol TE/mL, while ORAC values ranged from 30.6 to 325 mu mol TE/mL.
High estimated residual phenolic values were observed for cheese curd made with chestnut inner shell, yellow soybean, adzuki bean and black soybean extracts; 96, 87.2, 84.9 and 82.3%, respectively.