An assessment of the intact casein content in natural cheddar cheese to determine its suitability in processed cheeses with desired properties.

As compared to age, intact casein in the natural cheddar cheese is a better index of selection for manufacturing processed cheese. In view of this, the present investigation was designed to establish relation between intact casein of the natural cheese with desirable properties of the processed cheese so that the most desirable intact casein in the natural cheddar cheese can be selected on the basis of required properties of the processed cheese. Processed cheese was prepared by using natural cheddar cheese of different intact casein content (ICC) and analysed for meltability, oiling off and hardness. Multiple linear regression was used for prediction of ICC using meltability, oiling off and hardness and it was observed that the all the independent variables significantly affected ICC. Adjusted R value of 0.952 and root mean square error of 1.04 suggested a good fit and validation of the developed equation.