The effect of cooking time on curd composition and textural properties of sheep Halloumi cheese

The effect of cooking time on the chemical characteristics, the textural properties and the volatile compounds of Halloumi cheese curd were studied. Sensory evaluation of the 1-day Halloumi cheese was also carried out. Cooking the cheese curd for 30 min significantly decreased its moisture content compared to the uncooked cheese curd. The cheese curds cooked for 30 and 60 min were found to have higher Ca and P contents in comparison with the uncooked cheese curd. After being cooked, the cheese curds exhibited higher values for hardness compared to the uncooked cheese curd due to their lower moisture contents. The cooking process affected the content of most volatile compounds. Alcohols which were found to be the main group of volatile compounds of the tested samples, consisted 85.50% of the total volatile compounds in the uncooked cheese curd and were significantly reduced reaching a percentage of 65.31% and 30.78% after cooking the cheese curd for 30 and 60 min, respectively. Instead, the volatile substances that were formed during thermal processing, such as γ-decalactone, 3-hydroxy-butanal, 2-furan-methanol and 2-hydroxy furanone increased significantly. The cheese curd that was cooked for 60 min was more yellowish in appearance compared to the cheese curd that was cooked for 30 min due to its higher value b (yellowness). The Halloumi cheese (end product) that was produced by cooking the cheese curd for 30 min achieved significantly higher sensory scores than the one that was produced by cooking the cheese curd for 60 min.