Aroushe cheese: physicochemical, reological, organoleptic and microstructure properties

Despite numerous kinds of cheeses they can be categorized into two main groups namely Traditional and Industrial. In Semnan province, north central of Iran, varieties of traditional dairy foods are produced among which Aroushe cheese is the most popular. In this study, Aroushe cheese is produced based on the traditional procedure and predefined condition and then its chemical, reological and sensory properties are characterized. This product is a processed cheese that is produced through simultaneous mixing and heating of the crude for a relatively long time (3-4 h). According to the presented results, the fat, protein and moisture of Aroushe cheese are 35%, 42% and 5%, respectively. Therefore, the shelf-life may be expected to be too much longer than other conventional cheese even in room condition. Based on the reology data of this study, G' is greater than G" at any given point, that means the elastic component dominates over the viscoelasticity which indicates a viscoelastic solid behavior. Finally, the micro-structure and color of Aroushe cheese are determined by SEM and Hanterlab.