Influence of mozzarella and semi-ripened cheddar cheese amalgamations on the chemical composition and textural attributes of processed pizza cheese

Abstract

Processed pizza cheeses (PPC) are the mixture of Mozzarella and other cheeses which is pasteurized with the addition of emulsifier to get the desired characteristics of cheese, used as pizza topping. Mostly being used cheese on pizza topping is fresh Mozzarella but it has some week quality attributes due to lack of biochemical reactions that takes place during ripening. Present study was designed in which PPC was prepared by blending different percentages of Mozzarella cheese (MC) and semi-ripened Cheddar cheese (SRCC). Seven PPC were prepared: Control (100% MC), PPC1, PPC2, PPC3 with (75:50), (50:50), (25:75) MC and 2 months SRCC and PPC4, PPC5 PPC6 with (75:50), (50:50), (25:75) MC and 4 months SRCC respectively. The quality of PPC was accessed by analyzing the chemical composition and textural attributes. The outcome of chemical composition suggested that protein-protein interactions in PPC were improved due to less electrostatic repulsion caused by pH reduction. Moisture retention also increased in PPC perhaps due to disintegration of paracaseinate complex and mechanical shear and temperature of processing. Protein, fat and ash contents of PPC were increased while texture results indicated that hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness decreased in PPC with greater share of SRCC. Based on the physicochemical and texture results it was concluded that cheese with better quality can be obtained by blending 75% MC and 25% two months SRCC.