# Fermented Cashew Nut Cheese Alternative Supplemented with _Chondrus crispus_ and _Porphyra_ sp.
## 1 Introduction  
The demand for various plant-based cheese alternatives (PBCAs) is gradually gaining importance in the food market [1]. However, this market is in its beginning and needs to progress rapidly [2]. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this process, making consumers re-evaluate their lifestyles and move towards plant-based diets [1]. This trend is justified by concerns related to the sustainable production of food, especially proteins [2], and/or to ethical reasons [3], such as animal welfare [4; 5]. Health-related issues, such as food allergies and/or intolerances, also explain the increased consumption of plant-based dairy alternatives [6; 7]. Some authors even suggest accelerated growth is driven byincreased allergenicity toward cow's milk and lactose intolerance [1; 5; 8]. Furthermore, commonly reported motivations to adopt plant-based diets also included sensory/taste/disgust aspects and weight loss [6].  
The main challenges associated with the development of plant-based alternatives to dairy products are to create products simultaneously innovative, sustainable, nutritious, and having organoleptic quality [3].  
PBCAs are oil-in-water emulsions containing proteins, stabilizers, emulsifiers, flavors (cultures or nutritional yeast), food colorings, and preservatives. Usually, all the ingredients are blended to imitate the cheese's appearance and consistency [1]. According to [PERSON] and [PERSON] [9], the primary ingredients used in dairy-free alternatives to cheeses found in the UK were coconut oil, almonds and/or cashew nuts, palm oil, rice, soya, and sunflower oil. Among these ingredients, the cashew nut (_Anacardium occidentale_ L.) is one of the main plant-based sources of protein used in cheese alternatives [3].  
In cashew nut-based cheese alternatives, about 50% of the weight is constituted by cashew nuts, followed by water and lemon juice, and sometimes added natural flavorings and phycocolloids such as agar-agar [10]. In other cases, PBCAs are coconut oil-based and are formulated using a low percentage of almonds and cashews along with a high coconut oil content [3]. Usually, cashew nut-based products present the highest protein levels and the lowest sodium and saturated fat contents [5]. For this reason, the replacement of dairy cheese with cashew nut-based options can help reduce the intake of salt and total fats, playing a special role in replacing the intake of saturated fats with unsaturated ones, thereby providing health benefits to consumers [10].  
This study aimed to develop fermented cashew nut cheese alternatives (FCNCAs) supplemented with Irish Moss (_Chondrus crispus_) and Nori (_Porphyna_ sp.) seaweeds. Other objectives included the characterization of the impact of seaweed supplementation in terms of their physicochemical, color, textural, microbiological, and sensory properties. Furthermore, according to the authors, no research has addressed the production of fermented cashew nut cheese alternatives with these characteristics. Thus, this is the first study conducting a comprehensive assessment of a plant-based cheese alternative supplemented with seaweeds.