Cooling effects on a model rennet casein gel system: part I. Rheological characterization.

The gelation of a model rennet casein system was studied during cooling at different rates. During cooling, casein network structure development was proposed to evolve over a few steps at different length scales: molecules, particles, flocs, or network. Rennet casein flocs are fractal in nature, and fractal dimension and floc size are two variables affecting the rheology and microstructure of a rennet casein gel. Casein structure formation during cooling from 80 to 5 degrees C at four different rates (0.5, 0.1, 0.05, and 0.025 degrees C/min) was monitored by dynamic rheological tests, and a stronger gel developed at a slower cooling rate. During different cooling schedules, similar fractal dimensions were observed due to a lack of difference in the colloidal interactions. Differences among rheological data were possibly caused by variability in floc size, as observed in the second part of this paper. A larger number of smaller-sized flocs enabled gelation at a higher temperature and created a stronger network at a slower cooling rate. Controlling cooling schemes thus provides an approach for manipulating casein gelation and the microstructure for a system of fixed chemical compositions.