INFLUENCE OF PACKAGING CONDITIONS ON THE TEXTURAL AND SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS, MICROSTRUCTURE AND COLOR OF INDUSTRIALLY PRODUCED TURKISH WHITE CHEESE DURING RIPENING

A full-fat Turkish white cheese was manufactured on an industrial scale and then packaged in a polystyrene container with brine containing 12% salt or a plastic pouch sealed under vacuum, before ripening for 90 days. With regard to textural characteristics, packaging in a plastic pouch resulted in cheeses with significantly higher hardness and cohesiveness (P < 0.05). Scanning electron micrographs showed a more compact and denser protein matrix for the cheese packed in the plastic pouch. Much yellowness was also obtained in cheeses with the plastic pouch (P < 0.05). The experimental cheeses had a similar sensory characteristics in the first 45 days (P > 0.05), but the taste and odor scores decreased in the cheeses packaged with the plastic pouch (P < 0.05) in the 60th and 90th days. Turkish white cheese is generally ripened for 3 months in brine and marketed in a can or polystyrene package containing brine. Recently, cheese molds have been packaged in a plastic pouch without brine. The textural and sensory characteristics and color of the industrially produced Turkish white cheese packaged in a plastic pouch under vacuum or polystyrene container with brine were examined during storage. Higher hardness and cohesiveness was obtained by packaging in a plastic pouch; a more yellow color was also detected in the cheese with a plastic pouch. Sensory characteristics were not influenced by the packaging conditions during the first 45 days of storage, however, the taste and odor scores of the cheese with a plastic pouch were lower after 60 and 90 days.