The objective of this paper is to study the effect of milk-fat replacement on Gouda cheeses composition, lipolysis and sensory characteristics. A Gouda cheese-like product was prepared from the substitution of milk fat with emulsified olive oil. For comparison, the low-fat variant without fat replacers and the full-fat cheese were also studied. Milk samples are initially pasteurized at 72 °C for 3 s, cooled to 35 °C, and added with 0.016 g L(-1) of lactic ferments and 0.30 mL L(-1) of microbial rennet. Total solids content was lower in cheeses containing fat replacers than in full and low-fat control cheeses due to the higher water-binding capacity of fat replacers. Free fatty acids rates were the highest in the case of reduced fat cheese-like product. The full-fat cheese showed a significantly higher overall impression score than all low-fat products.
Keywords: Cheese like products; Emulsified olive oil; Fat replacers; Lipolysis; Overall impression.