Abstract

Rheological and physicochemical analyses of Cebreiro cheese were carried out. Four samples of each of three batches of cheese from different commercial producers were analyzed. Mechanical spectra data were obtained from frequency sweeps at 20ºC, a quality factor Q and fractal dimension Df were obtained from these rheological data. Moisture content, physicochemical (pH and titratable acidity) and proteolysis-related parameters were also measured. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the complex viscosity also enabled characterization of the activation energy of the three batches. The different viscoelastic parameters were highly consistent and structural differences between the different batches were observed. As regards the chemical composition level, high correlations between moisture, titratable acidity, nitrogen fractions and several viscoelastic parameters were observed. In general, casein networks were more extensive and elastic in batches with higher titratable acidity and moisture.

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