Reconstituted cheese

Preparation of a reconstituted cheese. Starting with the fi-actions recovered at each step of the extraction / purification process of cheeses, it was possible to prepare a reconstituted cheese if the corresponding fiactions - fat, protein pellets, microfiltration permeate (WSE) and retentate - were at the same concentration as in the crude cheese. The dilution of both microfiltration permeate and retentate... 

Omission of fractions. In these cases, reconstituted cheeses were prepared by omitting one of the constitutive flections. For each omission, the omitted fraction was replaced by ulfra-pure water. The mixing of the components was made in the same way as described above. For more details, see (II) and (12). 

Table 1 shows the taste profile obtained for crude cheese, reconstituted cheese made vnth homogenized proteins, fat with and without WSE, and WSE. Their comparison allowed the impact of each fiaction on the taste of the cheese to be evaluated. The omission of WSE led to a tasteless product, showing that WSE contained all the taste-active compounds. In reconstituted cheese where the structure of die matrix was almost totally degraded, bitterness was weaker and saltiness higher than in crude cheese (Table 2). The omission of fat and proteins from the reconstituted cheese caused an increase of saltiness and a decrease of bitterness compared to crude cheese. These data demonstrated that, in the crude cheese, the matrix structure partially masked the saltiness and increased the bitterness due to taste-active compounds. In addition, the comparison with results obtained with grated cheese in which the destructuring was intermediate between crude and reconstructed cheese for the same taste descriptors (Table 2) confirmed that the more die matrix was destructured, the more the bitterness increased and die saltiness decreased. Thus, cheese taste might be explained by the taste of die WSE containing the taste-active compounds modulated by the masking effect of both fat and proteins but also by an effect linked to the cheese mafrbc structure.

Table 1. Comparison between gustatory profile of reconstituted cheese, reconstituted cheese where fat and proteins were omitted and reconstituted cheese where the Water soluble extract (WSE) was omitted.

Table 2. Gustatory profile of crude, grated and reconstituted cheese.

Entire cheese Grated cheese Reconstituted cheese... 

For each attribute, t-tests were performed between entire cheese and grated or reconstituted cheese. Significant (P<0.05), very significant (P<0.01) and highly significant differences compared to the entire cheese are indicated with, or respectively. When the P-value is higher than 0.05 but weaker than 0.10 it is shown between parenthesis, ns = no significant. Each product was tasted twice by each of the 16 panelists. P<0.09 P<0.1. Standard deviations are indicated in italic between brackets. 

Principal micelle characteristics. The structure of the casein micelles has attracted the attention of scientists for a considerable time. Knowledge of micelle structure is important because the stability and behaviour of the micelles are central to many dairy processing operations, e.g. cheese manufacture, stability of sterilized, sweetened-condensed and reconstituted milks and frozen products. Without knowledge of the structure and properties of the casein micelle, attempts to solve many technological problems faced by the dairy industry will be empirical and not generally applicable. From the academic viewpoint, the casein micelle presents an interesting and complex problem in protein quaternary structure. 

Cryodestabilization of casein limits the commercial feasibility of frozen milk, which may be attractive in certain circumstances. However, cryode-stabilized casein might be commercially viable, especially if applied to milks concentrated by ultrafiltration, which are less stable than normal milk. Cryodestabilized casein may be processed in the usual way. The product is dispersible in water and can be reconstituted as micelles in water at 40°C, The heat stability and rennet coagulability of these micelles are generally similar to those of normal micelles and casein produced by cryodestabilization may be suitable for the production of fast-ripening cheeses, e.g. Mozzarella or Camembert, when the supply of fresh milk is inadequate. As far as we are aware, casein is not produced commercially by cryodestabilization. 

Two strains of Lb.helveticus and of Lb.casei were investigated when growing in reconstituted skim milk in a fermenter. The strains of Lb.helveticus were isolated from freeze dried pure cultures of Chr. Hansen s Laboratory Lb. helveticus CH 1 and Lb.helveticus LH 7. Lb.casei strains RG 2 and G 2 were isolated from cheese. 

Omar, M. M., A. I. El-Zayat, and M. Ashour. 1986. Flavor EnhancemenL by Lipase Addition, of Ras Cheese Made from Reconstituted Milk. Eood Chemistry 19 (4) 277-286. 

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