Researchers look to test new cheese production technology

CHEESE production processes are set to take a quantum leap forward, thanks to new sensor technologies jointly developed by research teams at Teagasc, UCD and the University of Kentucky.

These international food science collaborators are seeking industry partners to trial prototypes of the visible-NIR syneresis sensor and digital imaging systems which will facilitate remote and online monitoring of curd and whey separation processes.

This innovation could improve the consistency of cheese moisture content, enhance quality control and lengthen shelf life. This project could make Irish cheese manufacturing more profitable than its global competitors, giving Ireland’s international dairy reputation a huge boost.

UCD’s Prof Colm O’Donnell said: “The team showed that the technologies can be used as process analytical tools to control syneresis in cheese manufacture, thereby playing a role in improving the consistency of cheese moisture content and generally improving the consistency of the manufacturing process.”

“We are talking to cheese manufacturers to test these technologies in an industry context.”

Profitability in the cheese industry is determined by consistency, quality, yield and ripening times. These researchers’ technological leap could be a significant springboard for Ireland’s dairy industry, which exports about 80% of the 140,000 tonnes of cheddar it produces each year.

The new sensors and imaging systems will allow greatly enhanced control over syneresis, the physico-chemical separation process which turns milk into cheese.

After milk coagulates in a cheese vat, the curd that is formed shrinks and expels whey. The rate of this syneresis process influences the eventual moisture, mineral and lactose content of the cheese which in turn dictates the ripening process and quality of the cheese.

It is in this technical stage in the process that the Irish and US-based researchers seem to have stolen a march. Prof O’Donnell’s team at UCD has been working closely with a team led by Dr Donal O’Callaghan at Teagasc’s Food Research Centre at Moorepark in Fermoy, Co Cork, as well as with researchers at the University of Kentucky.

The researchers have collectively developed two patented sensor systems, the visible-NIR spectroscopy device and a new digital RGB (red, green and blue) image processing system.

UCD and Teagasc are interested in receiving expressions of interest from cheese manufacturers to test these technologies in cheese plants. Contact: [e-mail]; or [e-mail]