The Effect of Dairy Fat Source on Viscoelastic Properties of Full‐Fat Processed Cheese Spreads

Abstract

During production of processed cheese, different sources of dairy fat are used, that contain different concentrations of surface active compounds (SAC), for example, natural cheeses (the fat is present in the form of fat globules with membranes with SAC) or butter (practically without membrains with SAC). It is known that SAC concentrations could influence the structure and therefore consistency of processed cheese. The objective of the work is to produce processed cheeses with various SAC contents, and to study how various SAC contents affect the viscoelastic properties of full‐fat processed cheeses (dry matter content 35% w/w and fat content in dry matter 50% w/w) over the course of a 56 day storage period. The elastic, loss, and complex moduli are monitored. The SAC concentration is indirectly controlled by the use of natural cheeses with various fat contents (e.g., ingredients containing fat in the form of fat globules coated by SAC) and butter (an ingredient in which SAC is practically not found at all). The various fat contents of the natural cheeses, and the balancing of this parameter in the raw material composition of the processed cheeses with milk fat (practically without SAC) do not significantly affect the consistency of the processed cheeses (p ≥ 0.05). This finding is positive for industrial practice, where natural cheeses with various fat contents are commonly used.In this work the effect of milk fat source and the concentration of SAC originating from the fat globule membranes on the viscoelastic properties of model processed cheeses are studied.Dependence of the elastic (G′; full symbols; Pa) and the loss (G″; open symbols; Pa) after 1 day (•○) and 56 days (▴△) of storage at 6 ± 2 °C on frequency.