Evaluation of Functional Properties of Mozzarella and Processed Pizza Cheese during storage

Along with the increase in pizza cheese production and consumption, identifying the trends of altering the functional properties of this product in order to control its quality is becoming very important. In this study, the changes in Functional properties of processed pizza cheese and low moisture mozzarella cheese samples collected from local manufactures in Khorasan province, Iran were analyzed. Three samples of commercial processed pizza cheeses and one commercial low moisture Mozzarella cheese as well as a sample of processed pizza cheese prepared according to the formulation previously optimized in our laboratory, were collected and stored at 4 ° C in vacuum packages until the day of experiment. Functional properties of all samples such as stretch length, max load, oiling off and meltability were measured and analyzed in days 0, 14 and 28 after production. In general, Statistical analysis showed that storage time had a significant (p≤ 0.05) effect on all measured properties, so that the stretch properties of low moisture mozzarella cheese and all samples of processed pizza cheese were decreased significantly (p≤ 0.05) during the storage period, whereas meltability and oiling off, follow a significant increase in trend. None of the properties evaluated were out of their standard and acceptance levels at the end of the shelf life, Therefore, it is concluded that the storage of pizza cheese in the fridge instead of freezer up to one month after production is suggested to be an alternative to protect the product from the damage caused by freezing and defrosting while maintaining the quality of the product at the end of the shelf life. The efficacy of TPA and image processing techniques in the measurement of functional properties (stretchability, oiling off and meltability) of pizza cheese samples was also confirmed in this study.