Physico-chemical and biochemical properties of low fat Cheddar cheese made from micron to nano sized milk fat emulsions

Milk fat emulsions from sodium caseinate (NaCas) and anhydrous milk fat (AMF) were prepared in the size range from 1 to 0.24 mu m. These emulsions were used as source of fat to prepare low fat Cheddar cheese (LFC) and their properties such as composition (at day 7), proteolysis, texture profile analysis (TPA), color and microstructure (by confocal laser scanning electron microscopy) were studied during ripening for 180 days. Emulsion size affected the textural, microstructure, compositional, proteolysis and color properties of LFCs, but did not make them comparable to control FFC (control full fat cheese) and textural properties did not change significantly during ripening. This was possibly due to the relatively small size of emulsions added and their inertness that did not lead to higher moisture retention during cheese making and did not coalesce during ripening.