Major Rheological and Sensory Analysis to Determine the Textural Properties of Cheeses

Abstract

Cheese is regarded as a viscoelastic food material. Textural properties of cheese play an important role in overall quality and consumer preference. Textural properties of cheese can be analyzed by rheological analysis and sensory evaluation analysis. Instrumental mechanical methods can provide the measurement of rheological properties of cheeses affecting physical properties, such as cracks, firmness, fracture, and production of eyes in cheeses. Descriptive sensory analysis with well-defined sensory descriptive words is a powerful tool to identify and quantify the key sensory properties of cheeses. In this article, major analytical methods to determine the rheological and sensory properties of cheeses and their applications to cheeses are presented.