The effect of smoking on changes in functional attributes of Mozzarella cheese

Abstract

Smoking of cheeses significantly modifies not only sensory attributes, but also determines the form of their further utilisation, packaging method and shelf life. The aim of thIS study was to evaluate functional characteristics of smoked and unsmoked Mozzarella cheeses subjected to 4-week storage. It was found that smoked cheese contained 7% less water than unsmoked cheese. Meltability of smoked cheese before storage was 2 times smaller than that of unsmoked cheese, but after 4 weeks, meltability was 21% greater. Smoked cheese not subjected to storage was 2.2 times harder than unsmoked cheese. During storage, hardness of smoked cheese decreased 4.6-fold, while that of unsmoked cheese only 1.1-fold. Storage time had an increase in stretchability of unsmoked and smoked cheeses by 4.2 and 14.9%, respectively. Keywords: Mozzarella, meltability, texture