Estimation of eye formation in Swiss-type cheese using geometrical measurements

Quality of eye-forming cheeses is strongly related to eyes’ size and their distribution. Therefore, it is interesting to determine when eyes start to form, their volume fraction and their size, shape and distribution during ripening. Currently, destructive methods are used to assess the aforementioned parameters. In this work, we propose a non-destructive method based on geometrical measurements to estimate some parameters associated with eye formation. During ripening, eye formation was linked to changes in mass, diameter and height of the cheese wheel. In addition, every five days, one wheel was cut and photographs were taken to estimate eye distribution. These images were used as reference to assess eyes’ volume fraction during ripening. Models were developed to predict eyes’ volume fraction from external geometrical measurements and cheese mass. Results are promising for industrial application as good correlation between eye volume estimation using image analysis and geometrical changes was obtained. •A method to estimate eyes volume in cheese using external parameters was developed.•Remaining mass, maximum height and bulk density were correlated to eye formation.•Reference estimation of eyes volume was performed using photographs and a toroid model.•The model to estimate eyes volume was validated.