Cheese science and technology
Module Objective: To provide participants with knowledge of the principles of the science of cheese manufacture and ripening in addition to covering yield efficiency, processed cheese, cheese as an ingredient and the acceleration and control of ripening.
Module Content: Cheese as a product; dairy chemistry of relevance to cheese; milk pre-treatment; rennet gelation and syneresis; starters and acidification; cutting, cooking and whey drainage; curd treatment; ripening including its control and microbiology; metabolism of lactose, lactate and citrate; lipolysis; proteolysis; amino acid catabolism; acceleration and control of ripening; yield efficiency, processed cheese, cheese as an ingredient.
Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Describe the influence of processing steps and ingredient selection on the characteristics of processed cheese.
- Summarise the rennet coagulation of milk and the syneresis of rennet-induced milk gels.
- Assess the effects of the preparation of milk for cheesemaking on the finished product.
- Explain the functions of NaCl in cheese and the factors which affect salt uptake.
- Relate the principal microbiological and biochemical events which occur in cheese during ripening of the properties of finished product.
- Appraise the value of various strategies for increasing cheese yield
Module Co-ordinator: Prof. Paul McSweeney, Department of VP Teaching and Learning.
Course Co-ordinator: Vicky Snook and Úna Martin
Contact information:vicky.snook@ucc.ie and umartin@ucc.ie
Course link: FS6208 Cheese Science and Technology | University College Cork