Kinetics of Various Chemical Changes During Storage of Processed Cheese

Three batches of processed cheese (PC) were manufactured by the standard procedure and packed aseptically in polystyrene (Sunpet) pet jars with screw cap of about 200 g capacity and stored at 5, 30 and, 45°C. The PC samples were analysed for proximate composition, selected physico-chemical characteristics and sensory attributes at intervals of 7 days for the product stored at 5°C upto 56 days, 3 days for the product stored at 30°C upto 6 days and 24 days at 45°C till the sample became organoleptically unacceptable. The results revealed that 30°C was conducive for mold growth, due to which the product got spoiled after 8 days of storage and hence the studies were terminated at this temperature. An increasing trend was observed in all the chemical parameters except pH with increase in time of storage at all the temperatures. The reaction rate constants for all the chemical parameters, followed a zero order reaction and were higher at higher temperature of storage as compared to lower temperatures. The least square analysis of variance for the chemical parameters had no significant differences between batches, while there was a significant to highly significant difference between storage period and temperature of storage.