Influence of Emulsifying Salts on the Textural Properties of Nonfat Process Cheese Made from Direct Acid Cheese Bases

Acid-base buffering curves of nonfat cheese bases at pH 5.0 (▵), pH 5.2 (●), and pH 5.4 (□) used in process cheese manufacture. Titrated from initial curd pH to pH 3.0 with 0.5 N HCl and titrated from pH 3.0 to pH 9.0 with 0.5 N NaOH. Arrow indicates location of pH ∼4.8 buffering peak during acidification. Data points are means of 3 replicates.

Cheese height (as a percentage of initial cheese height) as a function of heating temperature for nonfat cheese bases, pH 5.0 (▵), pH 5.2 (●) and pH 5.4 (□) tested using the UW-Meltprofiler. Cheese bases were heated from 10 to 65°C over a 15-min period. Data points are means of 3 replicates.

The extent of flow for nonfat process cheese made with (a) trisodium citrate, (b) disodium phosphate, and (c) trisodium phosphate and using the pH 5.0 (○), pH 5.2 (●) and pH 5.4 (□) cheese bases. Data points are means of 3 replicates and error bars are the standard deviations. Extent of flow was measured using the UW-Meltprofiler.

Extent of flow, hardness, and adhesiveness values for the nonfat process cheeses made with trisodium citrate, disodium phosphate, or trisodium phosphate and using the pH 5.0 (○), pH 5.2 (●), or pH 5.4 (□) cheese bases. Data points are means of 3 replicates.

Hardness values determined from texture profile analysis of nonfat process cheese made with (a) trisodium citrate, (b) disodium phosphate, and (c) trisodium phosphate and using the pH 5.0 (○), pH 5.2 (●), and pH 5.4 (□) cheese bases. Data points are means of 3 replicates and error bars are the standard deviations.

Adhesiveness values determined from texture profile analysis of nonfat process cheese made with (a) trisodium citrate, (b) disodium phosphate, and (c) trisodium phosphate and using the pH 5.0 (○), pH 5.2 (●), and pH 5.4 (□) cheese bases. Data points are means of 3 replicates and error bars are the standard deviations.

Adhesiveness values for nonfat process cheese (NFPC) made from the pH 5.2 cheese base as a function of pH for cheese made with (○) trisodium citrate, (□) disodium phosphate, and (●) trisodium phosphate (TSP); control cheese (■) contained no emulsifying salt. The shaded region indicates the main sticky zone for the NFPC. Data points are means of 3 replicates.

Adhesiveness values as a function of hardness values for nonfat process cheese made from the pH 5.2 (●) and pH 5.4 (□) cheese bases and using disodium phosphate as the emulsifying salt. Data points are means of 3 replicates.