Flavour and texture in cream cheese depend on the microstructure. The objec
tive of this work was to study the influence of fat content, salt content a
nd homogenisation pressure on the microstructure and sensory properties of
cream cheese. Twelve types of cream cheese were produced according to a ful
l-factorial design, whereby the fat content was set at three levels, the sa
lt content at two levels and the homogenisation pressure at two levels. The
cheeses were analysed by a sensory panel, using both quantitative descript
ive profiling and time intensity (T1) evaluation, and by using a confocal l
aser scanning microscope, CLSM, whereby the microstructure of the cheeses w
as analysed. All the design parameters had a significant influence on the f
lavour and texture, although fat had the largest effect. Interaction effect
s between the design parameters were also found to influence the character
of cream cheese. The results showed that it is possible to create a cream c
heese with lower fat content and with sensory attributes similar to the att
ributes in cream cheese with high fat content, by modification of productio
n parameters. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.