Characterization of the Rheological, Textural, and Sensory Properties of Samples of Commercial US Cream Cheese with Different Fat Contents

Storage modulus (G′) values during the heating of full-fat (—■—), Neufchatel (—●—), and fat-free (—▴—) cream cheeses from brands A to H (panels a to h, respectively); and cooling of full-fat (---□---), Neufchatel (---○---) and fat-free (---▵---) cream cheeses from brands A to H (panels a to h, respectively). Heating was from 5 to 80°C and cooling from 80 to 5°C at 1°C/min. Solid lines represent heating and dashed lines represent cooling. Values are means of 3 replicates, and error bars represent standard deviations of the mean.

Loss tangent values during the heating of full-fat (—■—), Neufchatel (—●—), and fat-free (—▴—) cream cheeses from brands A to H (panels a to h, respectively); and cooling of full-fat (---□---), Neufchatel (---○---) and fat-free (---▵---) cream cheeses from brands A to H (panels a to h, respectively). Heating was from 5 to 80°C and cooling from 80 to 5°C at 1°C/min. Solid lines represent heating and dashed lines represent cooling. Values are means of 3 replicates, and error bars represent standard deviations of the mean.

Hardness determined by penetration test of full-fat (horizontal hatch), Neufchatel (cross hatch), and fat-free (diagonal hatch) cream cheeses obtained from 8 different brands. Values are means of at least 3 replicates and error bars represent standard deviations of the mean.

Hardness determined by spreadability test of full-fat (horizontal hatch), Neufchatel (cross hatch), and fat-free (diagonal hatch) cream cheeses obtained from 8 different brands. Values are means of at least 3 replicates and error bars represent standard deviations of the mean.

Hardness determined by penetration test of cheesecakes made with full-fat (horizontal hatch), Neufchatel (cross hatch), and fat-free (diagonal hatch) cream cheeses obtained from 8 different brands.

Principal component analysis biplot of sensory parameters used to differentiate full-fat (□), Neufchatel (○), and fat-free (▵) cream cheeses. Key for sensory parameters: Firm = firmness; Stick = stickiness; Gum = gumminess; Coh = cohesiveness of mass; Diss = difficulty to dissolve; PS = particle size; Spr = difficulty to spread. The letter shown inside each symbol is the brand of cream cheese.

Principal component analysis biplot of sensory and instrumental parameters used to differentiate full-fat (□), Neufchatel (○), and fat-free (▵) cream cheeses. Key for sensory parameters: Firm = firmness; Stick = stickiness; Gum = gumminess; Coh = cohesiveness of mass; Diss = difficulty to dissolve; PS = particle size; Spr = difficulty to spread. Key for instrumental parameters: G′ = G′ values at 8°C; Hs = spreadability hardness; Hp = penetration hardness. The letter shown inside each symbol is the brand of cream cheese.