Studies on production and keeping quality of processed cheese sauces

Cheese sauce may be used for dipping, topping, or grilling and other applications like the coatings due to growing interest in cheese sauce developing. This study was introduced to offer a delicious and favourable cheese sauce formulas with acceptable quality, to be suitable for Egyptian consumers. In first part the Egyptian local market were surveyed for cheese sauce products. Surveyed samples indicated that the all were imported brand names and not produced in Egypt. Collected cheese sauces showed different acceptability attributes associated with the acceptability of raw constituents incorporated in the formulas, the Kraft sauce was the best. Second part of study was conducted to investigate different stabilizing systems in cheese sauce industry and came into three sections. Various types of food starch has been tried in section (A) and the most important found results stated that incorporation of different starches in cheese sauce formulas resulted in lower free water and oil with high viscosity values which help in better improvements of final sauce emulsification. Cheese sauce with corn starch had the highest viscosity values, meanwhile sauce with rice flour bad the lowest. Addition of food starches as a thickening agent in cheese sauce formula improved significantly all sensory characteristics assessed in resultant product. The most acceptability was obtained by incorporating corn starch or modified corn starch in the base blend. Different food stabilizers other than starch were investigated as a stabilizng system for cheese sauce manufacture in section (B). Xanthan, k-carrageenan, guar gum, peetin, and sodium alginate were added to the base formula of processed cheese sauces. All incorporated stabilizers enhanced all properties of resultant cheese sauce. Section (C) was conducted to study the effect of stabilizing combinations on the properties of resultant processed cheese sauce. Better emulsion stability and homogeneity were obtained when guar gum or sodium alginate was incorporated in combinations with com starch as a thickening system in cheese sauce blends. Treatments of corn starch and guar gum had higher sensory scores than that with sodium alginate either fresh or along the storage period up to 3 months. Therefore, it could be recommended upon the previous obtained results that, processed cheese sauces with higher quality and most acceptability as an appetizer for Egyptian market can be produced using a stabilizing mixture of corn starch + guar gum. The third part was planned to examin different protein resources in the base blend of cheese sauces. Milk protein concentrate (MPC), total milk proteinate (TMP), UF- retentate curd (UF-RC), skim milk powder (SMP) and soy protein concentrate (SPC) were used as Ras cheese partial replacement in processed cheese sauces formulas. Treatment with milk protein concentrate had the highest viscosity comparing with that using milk protein resources even the control. Control treatment with Ras cheese showed the lowest viscosity values among all cheese sauces. Cheese sauce samples with TMP and UF-RC showed very smooth, more homogenous and flowable body than other treatments. Sauce of soy protein concentrate had an oily and beany flavour that was not attractive and less acceptable to pantlists. Meanwhile, cheese sauce with UF- retentate curd was the most acceptable sauce with no undesirable flavour even after 3 months of storage. Part four was planned to study the shelf stability of cheese sauces using different food preservatives either single or in combination to explore the best ample preservative system. Nisin as antimicrobial single or combined with antifungal natamycin and / or potassium sorbate were tried comparing to control treatment with no preservatives. The results indicated that the preservatives had no significant effect on chemical or physical properties of resultant processed cheese sauces.