The effect of milk fat substitution on the rheological properties of Edam-type cheese

Ryszard Myhan,Ewelina Jachimczyk,Jadwiga Sadowska,Tomasz Jeliński,Ireneusz Białobrzewski

doi:10.1007/s00217-020-03587-9

Abstract

In cheese-like products, milk components (in particular fat) are partially or completely replaced with non-dairy substitutes. An attempt was made in this study to determine whether Edam-type cheese can be distinguished from its substitute, where milk fat was replaced with palm oil, based on rheological properties. The rheological properties of Edam cheese and its substitute were analyzed during a 16-week ripening period, based on the results of a stress-relaxation test. The values of the rheological parameters were estimated with the use of the generalized Maxwell model and a non-linear model proposed by the authors, which accounted for the plastic deformation of the analyzed samples. The study revealed that both methods were equally effective in describing the stress relaxation process; therefore, they can be regarded as equivalent. Excluding the initial stage of ripening (which is not important from the consumers’ point of view), the replacement of milk fat with palm oil did not influence the rheological properties of Edam-type cheese and the cheese-like product. In subsequent stages of ripening, no significant differences were found in the rheological properties of both products, which could only be used to evaluate their ripeness.

Highlights

The growing competition on the market of processed foods, including dairy products, has increased the supply of foods where selected natural ingredients are replaced with substitutes
The study was performed on commercially available blocks of full-fat Edam-type cheese (Edam) and a cheese substitute (Substitute) where milk fat was substituted in its entirety with palm oil
The proposed non-linear model accounts for the permanent plastic deformation of Edam-type cheese and its substitute, and the estimated value of the flow index is close to that determined for highly-processed meat products [67], indicating that the viscous properties of both analyzed products may correspond to the behavior of a nonNewtonian shear thinning fluid [74, 75]

Summary

Introduction

The growing competition on the market of processed foods, including dairy products, has increased the supply of foods where selected natural ingredients are replaced with substitutes. Such products are introduced to meet consumer demand for innovative foods with altered dietary properties [1] and to decrease production costs [2,3,4]. Adulteration in dairy products (e.g., with vegetable oil) can be detected with the use of various instrumental methods, including chromatographic, immunological, physical, and mechanical techniques [5].

Methods

Results

Conclusion