Muffin is a flour confectionery product with an elastic texture. Nowadays, vegetable products are replacing traditional dairy products more often in the food sector. Tofu, which is a quintessential soy protein product, is one of the alternatives for making vegan products. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of defrosting processes to changes of sensory and textural properties of muffins with cottage cheese and its vegan substitutes. Five types of muffins were used in the study – muffin without cottage cheese (control), muffin with cottage cheese, muffin with lactose-free cottage cheese, tofu muffin and tofu chickpea muffin, which were thawed after freezing in two ways (at room temperature and in a microwave oven). For the determination of muffin quality, the Quantitative descriptive method (QDA) was used, and for overall liking, the 7-point hedonic scale and acceptance – Just-about-Right (JAR) method were used. To evaluate physical-chemical and textural analysis, standard methods were used. The method of defrosting muffins – room (ambient) temperature or microwave – has no significant effect (p is greater than 0.05) on the quality and JAR rating of the muffins with cottage cheese and tofu. The obtained results showed that the addition of plant-based protein sources significantly reduces the volume of muffins; the texture of the muffins becomes softer, but stickier. In the process of defrosting using a microwave, the structure of the muffins is drier, softer, whitish, and less sticky, compared to a muffin thawed at 22 °C.

Fresh-cut herbs satisfy consumer demand owing to the convenience of buying them in food shopping malls as quickly accessible products. Food packaging has an important role in the food industry nowadays, because it helps to preserve the quality of fresh-cut food products at the production and sales sites and provides safety during storage. The aim of this research was to evaluate the quality changes of fresh-cut rosemary packed and stored in biodegradable film packaging. Rosemary has been packed in several materials – two biodegradable packaging materials, NatureFlexTM NVS INNOVIA film, Nature Works® PLA P-360 containers with hermetically pressed PLA cap and “breathable” conventional BOPP PropafilmTM P2GAF film. The samples were analysed over time at 0, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 days of storage at a temperature of +5 ±1 °C in terms of physicochemical quality: O2 and CO2 concentration, mass loss, pH, content of soluble solids (ºBrix) and tested sensory evaluation. The analysis of the obtained results showed that the cellulose based biodegradable NatureFlexTM NVS INNOVIA film was a good way to prolong the storage time of fresh-cut rosemary and ensuresensory quality and high physiochemical quality during the preservation period.