Abstract: The physicochemical properties (protein, fat and moisture content, and pH) and functional properties (textural properties, stretchability, meltability, free oil and rheological properties) of natural and processed Mozzarella cheese were measured. The results indicated that the protein content of natural Mozzarella cheese was significantly higher than that of processed Mozzarella cheese, accompanied by a significant decrease in moisture content and pH, and the fat content varied among different brands. Hardness, stretchability, meltability and free oil were significantly higher in natural Mozzarella cheese than in the processed one. Dynamic temperature sweep tests showed that the dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) of both natural and processed Mozzarella cheeses increased first and then decreased with increasing temperature. The tan δ of natural Mozzarella cheese reached 1 at 50–60 ℃ whereas that of processed Mozzarella cheese remained lower than 1 in the whole temperature range. Our findings suggested that natural Mozzarella cheese is more suitable for making baked foods, such as pizza and baked rice while processed Mozzarella cheese can be used in foods that do not need to be baked, such as sandwich.

Key words: cheese, physicochemical properties, functional properties