Noodles have been a part of our diet for a long time. In Asia, white-salted, Cantonese and instant fried types of noodles are widely consumed. White-salted noodles, also called Udon noodles, are consumed as wet or dried form. White-salted noodles are deeply favored in Korea and Japan and more consumption of Cantonese noodles are observed in other Asian countries. The quality attributes of white-salted noodles are predominantly dependant by wheat flour components, such as starch, protein and pigments, as wheat flour, water and salt are main raw materials of white-salted noodles. In several studies, the ratio between amylose and amylopectin is a key determinant of textural properties of white-salted noodles; hardness of white-salted noodles did have a significant (p<0.05) increase when amylose content in wheat flour was increased. The textural properties of white-salted noodles was not affected much by the protein content, especially protein content of flour was in the range of 10% ~ 13%. It seems that starch plays more important role than protein in the textural properties of white-salted noodles. Carotenoids and flavonoids pigment are major contributors of color of white-salted noodles.

본 연구에서는 농축유청단백질을 이용하여 내부젤화 방법으로 나노크기(<~200 nm)의 W1/O/W2 다중 에멀젼을 제조하고, 제조 공정요인(가교제인 CaCl2 농도, 초음파처리, 유화제)에 따른 나노다중에멀젼의 형태학적, 물리화학적(입자크기, 다분산지수, 제타전위) 특성 평가와 모델 유식품(우유, 요구르트, 치즈)을 이용한 저장 안정성을 연구하였다. 나노다중에멀젼의 형태학적 특성은 투과전자현미경을 이용하여 관찰하였으며 물리화학적 특성 및 유식품 저장 안정성 평가는 입도분석기를 이용하여 수행되었다. 실험 결과 가교제인 CaCl2을 첨가함에 따라 다중에멀젼의 크기가 유의적으로(p<0.05) 감소하였으며, 이용된 CaCl2 모든 농도(0, 4, 6, 8 mM)에서 음전하를 지닌 다중에멀젼은 다분산지수 0.2 이하의 균질의 입자 분포를 지니고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 또한 투과전자현미경을 이용하여 관찰한 결과, ~ 180 nm 크기의 내부에 오일상이 포함된 구형의 나노다중에멀젼이 성공적으로 제조되었음을 확인하였다. 초음파 처리시 다중에멀젼 크기는 유의적으로(p<0.05) 감소하였으며, 다분산지수 0.2 이하의 나노다중에멀젼이 생성됨을 확인하였다. 또한 수상 내 유화제 첨가 시 입자크기가 유의적으로(p<0.05) 감소하였고, 다분산지수 0.2 이하의 나노다중에멀젼이 생성됨을 확인하였다. 모델 유식품 저장 환경에서의 안정성 평가 결과 14일 동안 나노다중에멀젼은 물리화학적 안정성을 유지하였으며, 결과적으로 농축유청단백질 나노다중에멀젼은 유식품 적용성이 뛰어남을 확인하였다.

Processed cheese is manufactured by mixing natural cheeses with emulsifying salts and other ingredients and heating under agitation to produce a homogeneous product. Processed cheese, processed cheese food, and processed cheese spread are classified in the US standards for processed cheese. The functional properties of processed cheese, such as firmness and meltability, are regarded as a quality indicator assessing overall cheese quality and consumer preference. Various analytical methods have been developed to determine the functional properties of processed cheese. In this review, the classification and functional properties of processed cheeses are described and analytical tools for evaluating the functional properties of processed cheese are discussed.

Cheese is regarded as a viscoelastic food material. Textural properties of cheese play an important role in overall quality and consumer preference. Textural properties of cheese can be analyzed by rheological analysis and sensory evaluation analysis. Instrumental mechanical methods can provide the measurement of rheological properties of cheeses affecting physical properties, such as cracks, firmness, fracture, and production of eyes in cheeses. Descriptive sensory analysis with well-defined sensory descriptive words is a powerful tool to identify and quantify the key sensory properties of cheeses. In this article, major analytical methods to determine the rheological and sensory properties of cheeses and their applications to cheeses are presented.