Influence of thermal processing to the crystallization of fat in Ricotta cheese

Whey is a liquid by-product of cheese, quark and casein production. There are different whey products, like whey butter, lactose, beverages, Ricotta etc . The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of heating and cooling parameters on crystallization of fat and microstructure of thermally processed Ricotta. For this study a laboratory cooker for processed cheese, thermostats and binocular microscope with image processing capability were used. The results affirmed that the faster the product is cooled, the smaller will be the size of fat crystals. Processing temperature and cooling speed had an effect on length and specific surface area (SSA) of fat crystal clusters ( p < 0.05) and these parameters can be used for statistical analysis describing the effect of processing variables on product. Results could be used as a tool for predicting and avoiding granularity which is caused by fat crystallization in products. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ct.61.3.2713