Foeniculum vulgare Mill. as natural conservation enhancer and health promoter by incorporation in cottage cheese

•Fennel decoction showed strong antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.•The decoction extract was characterized in terms of bioactive compounds.•Fennel decoction was used as a natural conservation enhancer in ewe's cottage cheese.•The decoction brought antioxidant properties to the final product. Food industry is focused on the development of novel functional foods containing health promoting natural ingredients, avoiding the potential harm of synthetic food additives. In the present work, the antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel) decoction (phenolic-enriched extract) was evaluated; after chemical characterization of the extract by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS, it was used as natural ingredient in cottage cheese samples for two purposes: increase shelf life and bring bioactive properties. The incorporation of fennel-based ingredients did not alter significantly the nutritional characteristics of control cottage cheese (without fennel-based ingredients), but avoided the increase in yellowness (after 7 days of storage), and the decrease in lactose content (after 14 days of storage) observed in control samples. Control samples after 14 days of storage, were the only ones showing signs of degradation. Furthermore, the incorporation of the fennel decoction improved the antioxidant properties of cottage cheese, up to 14 days of storage. Overall, fennel decoction can be used as a natural conservation enhancer in cottage cheese, while bringing antioxidant properties to the final product.