Influence of the melt holding time on fat droplet size and the viscoelastic properties of model spreadable processed cheeses with different compositions

Abstract

Spreadable processed cheese (SPC) samples, with 30 and 40% (w/w) dry matter (DM) and 30, 40 and 50% (w/w) fat in dry matter (FDM), were produced with nine individual melt holding times (between 0 and 10 min) and stored for 30 days. Milk fat droplet size and viscoelastic properties were determined. In general, longer holding times resulted in decreased diameter of the milk fat droplets in all tested SPC samples. Furthermore, the size of the milk fat droplets decreased with increasing DM content and decreasing FDM content. Furthermore, for most of the produced SPCs, with the progress of the storage time, the G∗ values decreased over the first 2 or 3 min (of the applied holding time). In addition, prolonging the holding time and storage period resulted in an increase of the samples G∗ values. Increased DM content and decreased FDM content in SPC samples resulted in increased G∗ values.