MOZZARELLA CHEESE - PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

The physico-chemical properties which affect mozzarella cheese functio nality need to be further understood, so that manufacturers have contr ol over functionality and can develop new products. One of the importa nt functionality properties is free oil formation; excessive or limite d free oil is considered a serious defect of mozzarella cheese. Fat gl obule size and milkfat polymorphism are shown to impact on free oil fo rmation in mozzarella cheese. These results indicate that the emulsifi cation of the fat globule during manufacture is an important parameter which may impact upon free oil formation.