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Preliminary Study of Ultrasonic Structural Quality Control of Swiss-Type Cheese

J. J. Eskelinen^*,1, A. P. Alavuotunki, E. Hæggström^* and T. Alatossava

^* Department of Physical Sciences, and
Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014, Helsinki, Finland

¹ Corresponding author: joona.eskelinen{at}helsinki.fi

There is demand for a new nondestructive cheese-structure analysis method for Swiss-type cheese. Such a method would provide the cheese-making industry the means to enhance process control and quality assurance. This paper presents a feasibility study on ultrasonic monitoring of the structural quality of Swiss cheese by using a single-transducer 2-MHz longitudinal mode pulse-echo setup. A volumetric ultrasonic image of a cheese sample featuring gas holes (cheese-eyes) and defects (cracks) in the scan area is presented. The image is compared with an optical reference image constructed from dissection images of the same sample. The results show that the ultrasonic method is capable of monitoring the gas-solid structure of the cheese during the ripening process. Moreover, the method can be used to detect and to characterize cheese-eyes and cracks in ripened cheese. Industrial application demands were taken into account when conducting the measurements.

Key Words: ultrasound • Swiss cheese • quality control • cheese structure