Texture characterization of white cheeses produced with sheep, goat and cow milk and correlation between composition, sensory and instrumental analyses

In this study physicochemical, textural and sensory characteristics of full-fat White cheeses made from different milk origin (cow, goat and sheep) and correlation of instrumental and sensory textural attributes as well as the composition of the cheeses were studied with statistical analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) texture maps showed differentiation of both visual and instrumental assessment of cheese characteristics. Comparing the results it could be concluded that the change of textural properties of, cpw, goat and sheep cheeses were significantly different (p<0,01; 0,05). These deviations between cheeses could be attributed to different milk composition, processing, ripening period and varius gel networks of cheeses. Instrumental hardness and adhesiveness significantly correlated with sensory data. Sensory chewiness was positively correlatedwith gumminess and chewiness. Sensory fracturability and instrumental hardness had the highest positive correlation and also significantly positively correlated with instrumental fracturability. It was found that dry matter values were also highly positively correlated with fracturability and hardness. Cooked, whey, creamy and fermented terms were determined as characteristic sensory descriptors by using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA).