Abstract
Abstract The rheological and structural properties of cheese govern many physical processes associated with cheese such as slumping, slicing and melting. To date there is no quantitative model that predicts shear modulus, viscosity or any other rheological property across the entire range of cheeses; only empirical fits that interpolate existing data. A lack of a comprehensive model is in part due to the many variables that can affect rheology such as salt, pH, calcium levels, protein to moisture ratio, age and temperature. By modelling the casein matrix as a series core-shell nano particles assembled from calcium and protein these variables can be reduced onto a simpler two-dimensional format consisting of attraction and equivalent hard sphere volume fraction. Approximating the interaction between core-shell nano particles with a Mie potential enables numerical predictions of shear moduli. More qualitatively, this two-dimensional picture can be applied quite broadly and captures the viscoelastic behaviour of soft and hard cheeses as well as their melting phenomena.
Highlights
Over the years there have been many reports of the rheological and fracture properties of cheese, but the vast amount of data remains unconsolidated since there are few tools that allow meaningful comparisons and/or prediction
The rheological and structural properties of cheese govern many physical processes associated with cheese such as slumping, slicing and melting
By modelling the casein matrix as a series core-shell nano particles assembled from calcium and protein these variables can be reduced onto a simpler twodimensional format consisting of attraction and equivalent hard sphere volume fraction
Summary
Over the years there have been many reports of the rheological and fracture properties of cheese, but the vast amount of data remains unconsolidated since there are few tools that allow meaningful comparisons and/or prediction. Rather than treat the different caseins and CCPs as separate bodies calcium and protein treated as hard nano-particles with a grafted polymer layer in a semi-poor solvent The behaviour of such a core-shell nano-particles is rather predictable, allowing estimates for shear modulus and a comparison with various cheeses. Another such prediction is that the observation of phase separation [20], apparent time temperature superposition [11], and the elasticity in melted cheese is more consistent with a gel or glass moving in and out of a kinetically trapped state. The fitted values presented in this article are intended to be a sensible reflection of the physics and not fits as the complexities and subtleties of the chemistry were overlooked to gain broader conceptual traction
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