Physicochemical and rheological characteristics of Crescenza cheese made with 40% of recombined milk during manufacture and storage

The impact of using recombined milk (RM) at 40% compared with 100% fresh milk (FM) was studied in the manufacture and storage of Crescenza cheese. In cheesemaking, no relevant technological differences were detected between FM and RM cheeses, although use of the latter resulted in a slightly more yellowish colour than FM cheeses. During shelf life, RM cheeses showed significantly lower amounts of expressible serum than FM cheeses. Rheological analysis and the hydrolysis of the main proteins followed a similar trend over time. However, glycated proteins were only detected in RM cheeses. Low-field H-1 T-2 nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed a reduction of relaxation times in RM cheeses during storage.