Enhancing the Quality and Stability of Fresh Cheese with Sage Through Antioxidant and Sensory Improvements

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of sage (Salvia officinalis L.) in various forms on the quality and shelf life of fresh cheese. We hypothesized that incorporating ground sage, its essential oil (EO), and supercritical fluid extract (SFE) would significantly enhance the antioxidant potential and oxidative stability of the product without compromising its fundamental physicochemical profile. Results showed that, although fresh cheese is a complex, heterogeneous matrix, the dry matter remained stable, fluctuating between 32.86% and 39.13% over 30 days. The addition of sage significantly increased the total phenolic content (TPC), reaching 14.28 mg GAE/g in SFE-fortified samples, which directly correlated with a high DPPH radical scavenging activity. The addition of ground sage (XFC-G) reduced lightness (L*) and resulted in less negative greenness values (a* from −2.50 to −1.97) compared to other treatments. Conversely, XFC-C maintained higher lightness but exhibited a progressive increase in total color difference (ΔE). Sensory evaluation confirmed that sage-fortified cheeses, particularly those with ground sage, received high scores for herbal aroma and overall acceptability (4.8/5.0) after the production, but after the 10 days of storage all samples showed the same overall sensory evaluation. These findings suggest that the added forms of sage, especially ground, serve as potent natural preservatives that maintain the functional integrity and sensory appeal of fresh cheese.