Physical Properties of Frozen Ewe’s Cheese

Abstract

This work evaluates the effect of freezing and storage time in ewe´s cheese. Eweś cheeses were subject to two different conservation conditions: frozen at -60C, with storage at -18C (Frozen), and refrigeration at 7C, with a RH (relative humidity) of 47% (Control). The initial values of moisture and water activity (a w ) were high and similar between the analysed samples, 62.2-61.3% and 0.91-0.92 respectively, with a decrease of moisture during the storage, being lower in the Frozen sample. The cheeses presented a light colour (L* = 69.0 and 74.6), which decreased during storage. The a* and b* coordinates showed negative and positive values, respectively, meaning that the predominant colours were green and yellow, and generally during storage they diminished. The texture of cheeses, in the first day of storage, presented similar values for Control and Frozen cheeses: 9.8 and 9.9 N for crust firmness; 3.6 and 3.9 N for flesh firmness; -2.6 and -2.8 N for stickiness; -22.7 and 24.7 N.sec for adhesiveness. Finally, after 120 days of storage for these cheeses, the crust firmness, the stickiness and the adhesiveness decreased more about three times. 