Relationship between Sensory and Instrumental Hardness of Commercial Cheeses

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The effect of deformation (10% to 90%) and deformation rate (0.2 to 10 mm/s) on both maximum compression force and correlation between sensory and instrumental measurements of hardness were investigated for 26 commercial cheeses. Log‐linear regression models were used to model the relationship between deformation rate and maximum compression force and fitted well to the relationship, indicating that maximum compression force is a log linear function of deformation rate. Deformation had a large effect on the correlation between sensory and instrumental hardness, while deformation rate had a small effect. The optimal deformation and deformation rate for the maximum correlation were 70% to 90% and 1.0 mm/s, respectively. This implies that an optimal combination of deformation and deformation rate can be used for maximizing the correlation between sensory and instrumental hardness for cheese products.