Influence of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) on textural properties of Mozzarella cheese during refrigeration storage

The study was conducted to assess the textural quality of mozzarella cheese using MAP. 300 g of mozzarella cheese was placed in high barrier bags under five different atmospheres viz., air (atm 1), vacuum (atm 2), 100% CO₂ (atm 3), 100% N₂ (atm 4) and a mixture of 50% N₂ and 50% CO₂ (atm 5). Periodically, the product was evaluated for its textural quality with respect to its hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness and springiness. Among the different modified atmospheres studied, atm 3 showed minimum changes on the textural quality in MAP Mozzarella cheese during storage, thus proving to be the best, followed by the samples packed in atm 5, atm 4, atm 2 and atm 1 respectively, in descending order. The five types of atmospheres and the intervals of storage period, each individually, influenced the textural quality of Mozzarella cheese.