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.