Optimization of modifed atmosphere packaging with respect to physicochemical ch...

• Author(s): Pintado, Manuela E. ; Malcata, F. Xavier
• Date: 2000
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/6463
• Origin: Veritati - Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa
• Subject(s): Package; Whey cheese; Dairy foods; Technological optimization
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The e ects of modi®ed atmosphere packaging on physicochemical and sensorial characteristics (contents of free fatty acids, lac- tose, lactic acid and moisture, as well as pH and rigidity) in Portuguese whey cheese (RequeijaÄo) were studied following a response surface methodology using storage time, storage temperature and fraction of CO2 in the ¯ushing gas as manipulated variables. Inspection of the sensorial optima in terms of the di erent parameters indicated that it is convenient to set the storage temperature equal to 4 C because no signi®cant lipolysis takes place, irrespective of overhead atmosphere. Plain CO2 as ¯ushing gas will in general ensure more constant composition until 15 days and will provide protection against extensive lipolysis. In terms of overall visual aspect, all packaged cheeses were preferred to their unpackaged counterparts; however, in terms of acidic smell, only whey cheeses stored at 4 C exhibited signi®cant di erences relative to those stored at higher temperatures.