Moisture and fat content determination in hard and semi-hard cheeses by near infrared spectroscopy in transmission mode.

Near infrared spectroscopy in transmission mode was used to analyse moistur e and fat content in hard and semi-hard cheeses just after whey removing. I n order to get a more reliable characterization of this method, experimenta l cheeses with a large range of concentration and partly decorrelated in fa t and moisture contents were manufactured. Different commercial cheeses col lected in dairy factories were added to these samples. The results obtained were: residual standard deviation of calibration (S-x,S-y) = 0.45 g.100 g( -1) and standard error of prediction (S.E.P.)= 0.39 g.100 g(-1) for moistur e; s(x,y) = 0.49 g.100 g(-1) and S.E.P. = 0.49 g.100 g(-1) for fat. Calibra tion models use a relevant spectral information for each component. This ch aracteristic allows to determine moisture and fat contents of cheeses from different origins.