Viscoelastic properties of reduced-fat and full-fat cheddar cheeses

Viscoelastic properties of cheeses with and without 0.2% or 0.5% (w/w) lecithin were studied using oscillatory dynamic experiments and creep tests. Elastic and loss moduli of reduced-fat cheese with lecithin were greater (p < 0.01) than reduced-fat cheese without lecithin, but less (p < 0.01) than these values for full-fat cheese. In creep/recovery tests, the residual strain of full-fat cheese, reduced-fat cheese with 0.5% or 0.2% lecithin, and reduced-fat cheese without lecithin were 7.8, 7.9, 8.1, and 15.4%, respectively. There was good agreement in terms of compliance behavior of the four types of cheese between experimental data and prediction by the generalized Kelvin model with six elements.