The use of near infrared spectroscopy to predict selected free amino acids during cheese ripening

The correlation between near-infrared (NIR) spectra of grated cheese and the development of selected free amino acids during cheese ripening of rindless Norvegia and Präst cheese was evaluated. Both the age of cheese and the respective NIR spectra, with the NIR spectra being superior, were shown to give good predictive ability for the free amino acids aspartate , serine (Ser), methionine , threonine , glutamate , valine and the total amount of free amino acids in grated cheese. No single partial least squares (PLS) factor from the NIR spectra could be identified as predominant in the estimation of Ser. Ten PLS factors were needed to provide the minimum prediction error for Ser.