A post-manufacture method to evaluate the effect of pH on mozzarella cheese characteristics

A post-manufacture method to increase or decrease the pH of mozzarella chee se by exposing shredded cheese to volatile ammonia or acetic acid, respecti vely, was developed and used to evaluate the effect of cheese pH on melting characteristics and calcium distribution. This approach enabled the cheese pH to be varied over a wide range without causing large collateral and con founding changes in cheese composition. Low-moisture part-skim mozzarella c heeses melted to a progressively more fibrous and elastic consistency, and the apparent viscosity increased in a linear manner with increasing pH in t he range of ca. 5.0 to 7.0. In contrast, cheeses lost the ability to flow a nd melt at pH values less than 5.0, causing a large increase in the apparen t viscosity with decreasing pH in the range of 5.0 to 4.7. Water-soluble ca lcium increased with decreasing cheese pH, especially in the pH range of 5. 0 to 4.7. The results demonstrate that the pH of mozzarella cheese is a str ong determinant of structure and functional characteristics, independent of other important parameters. A better understanding of the effect of pH on mozzarella cheese at different stages of ageing could lead to new strategie s to tailor and control functional characteristics.