STUDIES ON PROCESSED CHEESE

Abstract

Processed cheeses became a very popular dairy product. Their values include not only a considerable durability but also the increased digestibility as compared to ripened cheeses. As a result of increasing demand for processed cheese in Egypt which is .. manufactured from raw materials mostly imported and recent increases in global prices of these raw materials; therefore the cost price of processed cheese in Egypt increased which

is negatively affected consumer of limited income. In response to increasing manufacture costs, imitation products have been developed and are widely used in formulated foods. Imitation processed cheese is made from mixtures of dairy and/or non dairy proteins and fat or oils. Therefore, this study aimed to produce high quality processed cheese with reasonable price.

To fulfill this a1m, Ras cheese whey (waste materiel which is disposed in sewer causing environmental pollution), soybean flour and palm oil were used in processed cheese blends instead of water, butter and skim milk powder.

The above aim was achieved by preparing set of different cheese blends as follows:

1- Eight blends and control (1) containing butter and different concentration of soybean flour and Ras cheese whey. 2- Eight blends and control (2) containing palm oil and different concentration of soybean flour and Ras cheese whey.

3- Study the impact of these substitutions on the microbial, physco-chemical, sensorial and rheological characteristics of produced cheeses.

The obtained results revealed the following:

1- Total bacterial counts of different processed cheese treatments were varied and affected as a result of adding Ras cheese whey and soybean flour. 2- Coliforms counts were generally low and go with Egyptian standards for processed cheese.