The effect of ternary emulsifying salt composition and cheese maturity on the textural properties of processed cheese

The dependence of textural parameters of processed cheeses (40%, w/w, dry matter content, 50%, w/w, fat in dry matter content) on the composition of ternary mixtures of phosphate emulsifying salts (disodium hydrogen phosphate – DSP; tetrasodium diphosphate – TSPP; sodium salt of polyphosphate – POLY) was modelled. The effects were studied in samples from cheeses with different maturity (2, 4 and 8 weeks) over a 30-day storage period at 6 °C. With a constant POLY content (below 60%) in the ternary mixtures, a rapid increase in hardness and a decrease in cohesiveness and relative adhesiveness was observed in products with a ratio of DSP to TSPP ranging in the instance of 1:1–3:4. The effect of a specific ratio of DSP to TSPP on the texture parameters decreased with increasing content of POLY in the mixtures. Neither the degree of maturity of the cheese nor a 30-day storage period affected these general trends.