The functionality of cheese as an ingredient: a review

Cheese is used as an ingredient in a wide range of culinary dishes, formulated foods and prepared meals. In the preparation of these foods for consumption, the cheese is subjected to different processes, which depending on the product, typically include size reduction (e.g. shredding, grinding), heating and reheating. The functionality, which is a composite of different attributes (e.g. shreddability, flowability), has a major impact on the suitability of the cheese for different usage applications. The functional attributes may be categorised into three major types, i.e. rheological-related properties of the raw cheese (e.g. elasticity), the cooking properties; and the flavour of both the raw and heated cheese. Cheese functionality, from the perspective of the rheological characteristics of the raw cheese and the cooking performance of the heated cheese, are reviewed. Many factors affect the functional attributes, including the interactive effects of milk pretreatments, make procedure, composition and storage conditions. These factors exert their effects directly or indirectly by influencing the microstructural distributions of, and physico-chemical properties (e.g. degree of protein hydration, fat coalescence) of, the protein and fat phases.