Comparison between red-green-blue imaging and visible-near infrared reflectance as potential process analytical tools for monitoring syneresis

The current work focuses on the comparison of 2 on-line optical sensing systems; namely red-green-blue imaging and visible-near infrared reflectance, for monitoring syneresis during cheese manufacture. The experimental design consisted of 3 temperature treatments carried out in an 11-L cheese vat in triplicate. Both systems were shown to predict syneresis without significant differences in prediction accuracy. However, a single-wavelength near infrared model was the most parsimonious (standard error of prediction = 4.35 g/100 g) for predicting syneresis. This technique was also the simplest in terms of parameters in the model (standard error of prediction = 4.15 g/100 g with 2 parameters), when time after gel cutting and process parameters (temperature and cutting time) were included in the models. The study showed that either system could be employed to control syneresis in cheese manufacture and improve the control of moisture content in cheese.