Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

Rheological characteristics of goat and sheep milk

Y.W. Park
Georgia Small Ruminant Research and Extension Center, College of Agriculture, Home Economics and Allied Programs,
Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, GA 31030-4313, USA
Available online 25 October 2006

Abstract
Rheology represents the properties of both solid and liquid foods, where texture is the rheology related to solid foods, and
viscosity is the rheology of fluid foods. Three categories of tests measure textural characteristics of solids foods, empirical (ball
compressor, penetrometer, curd tension meter), imitative (texturometer, texture profile analysis [TPA]), and fundamental tests (small
amplitude oscillatory shear analysis [SAOSA], torsion analysis [TA]). Regardless of animal species, milk casein gels are mainly
responsible for the rheological properties of cheese and other dairy products. In normal fluid milk, the viscosity is affected by the
state and concentrations of fat, protein, temperature, pH, and age of the milk. Average milk viscosity has been determined for goats
at 2.12 cPas, sheep 2.48 cPas, camels 2.8 cPas, buffaloes 2.2 cPas, and cows 1.7 cPas. Heating decreases the dynamic viscosity,
but it increases at the point of coagulation. Sheep and goat milk have the same proteins as cow milk, but their proportions and
genetic polymorphs differ widely, which explains different rennetabilities and considerable rheological variations in cheesemaking.
Casein micelle structure is similar in goat, sheep, and cow milk, but differs in composition, size and hydration. Sheep milk has
caseins richer in calcium than cow caseins, it is also very sensitive to rennet, because of higher /s -casein ratio, and coagulation
proceeds faster than in cow milk. Rheological studies with Monterey Jack cheese from goat milk found knitting with progressing
aging time, less hardness, less shear stress values, and more rubberiness. High correlations were noted between SAOSA scores
and proteolysis in cheeses. Terrincho sheep cheese showed increased hardness, fracturability, gumminess, chewiness, yelloweness,
decreased adhesiveness, resilience, and cohesiveness during ripening. Frozen storage of soft goat cheeses had minimal effects on
textural qualities, which has valuable market implications. Feta cheeses showed increased compactness and porosity, when goat milk
had been added to sheep milk. Yogurt studies, including Labneh from the Middle East, found highest viscosity for sheep followed
by goats, cows, and camels, and viscosity increased with solids contents. Three different transient viscosity stages were described
mathematically, and camel milk varied least in viscosity during yogurt gelation. Viscosity decreased with increasing angular velocity
of the inner cylinder, suggesting that yogurt behaved as a shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid. Rheological properties are important
monitors of quality control in dairy processing and in scientific research.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Goat milk; Sheep milk; Rheology; Texture; Viscosity; Texture profile analysis

1. Introduction
Rheology is defined as the study of material deformation and flow (Scott-Blair, 1969), and includes what is
This paper is part of the special issue entitled Goat and Sheep
Milk Guest edited by George Haenlein, Young Park, Ketsia RaynalLjutovac and Antonio Pirisi.
Tel.: +1 478 827 3089; fax: +1 478 825 6376.
E-mail address: parky@fvsu.edu.

0921-4488/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2006.09.015

termed small-strain testing (deforming a small percent

of that required to break the sample) and large-strain
testing (deforming to the point of permanent structural
change) (Hamann, 1988).
In food research, rheology is often used interchangeably with texture, which refers to the flow, deformation, and disintegration of a sample under force (Tunick,
2000). Since rheology represents the properties or characteristics of both solid and liquid foods, in strict terms,

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

texture is the rheology related to solid foods, while viscosity is the rheology related to fluid foods (Tunick,
2000). Rheology of fluid milk can be measured with
viscometers, while that of solid dairy foods is usually
evaluated with texturometer, Instron Testing machine
and torsion gelometry, etc.
Caprine milk differs from cow milk in several
physico-chemical characteristics, which explain major
differences in the technological behavior of the two
milks (Remeuf, 1992). The poorer cheesemaking ability
of goat milk is largely attributable to the lower casein
content, and to specific properties of casein micelles
in caprine milk such as their composition, size and
hydration (Remeuf, 1992). Goat milk also has different
proportions of the four major caseins (s1, s2, , )
compared to cow counterparts, and there are great variations, especially between s1-casein and s2-casein
contents between individuals and breeds of goats and
sheep, because of the occurrence of genetic polymorphisms for all milk proteins, which influence greatly their
cheesemaking properties (Remeuf, 1992). Sheep milk
has higher specific gravity, viscosity, refractive index,
titratable acidity, but lower freezing point than average
cow milk (Haenlein and Wendorff, 2006).
Regardless of milk of any dairy species (i.e., cow,
goats and sheep), casein gels are responsible for most
of the various rheological/textural properties of cheese
and other dairy products that gel, stretch and fracture
(Tunick, 2000). Rheological properties are examined as
a quality control method in dairy processing plants and
as a scientific technique for food scientists and rheologists to perform research on the structure/texture of food
products.
Although rheological characteristics of cow milk and
its dairy products have been extensively studied, the documentations on rheological properties of goat and sheep
milk products, especially their fluid milks have been
scarce. This review focuses on goat and sheep milk products, but due to the paucity of reports on fluid milk of
goats and sheep, this paper covers more research on fermented goat and sheep milk products.
2. Rheology of goat milk and sheep milk
Rheology of fluid milk is largely influenced by its viscosity. The dynamic viscosity is a parameter related to
the inner friction of a liquid (Spreer, 1998). The viscosity of milk is twice as high as that of water due to the
friction of fat in milk (emulsified in milk) (Spreer, 1998).
In normal fluid milk, viscosity is affected by state and
concentrations of fat and protein, temperature, pH and
age of the milk (Jenness and Patton, 1976). Viscosity is

a physical property of a fluid to resist its flow or pour. It

depends on internal friction within a liquid and the relation between kinetic motion and free surface (Jenness
and Patton, 1976). Under most conditions milk behaves
as a Newtonian liquid, meaning that the shear stress is
proportional to the shear rate (dv/dx) (Walstra et al.,
1999).
2.1. Dimensions of viscosity
Viscosity of a fluid can be measured in absolute or
relative terms. The absolute unit of measurement for
viscosity is the poise, named after Poiseuille, where
a centipoise represents one one-hundredth of a poise
(Jenness and Patton, 1976). The viscosity of water at
20 C is equal to 1.005 centipoises, and the relative viscosity is ordinarily measured in terms of the rate of flow
of a liquid.
The dynamic viscosity is expressed as N s/m or Pa.s
(Spreer, 1998). The centipoise cP (103 Pa.s) is an old
term for viscosity. The viscosity value for cow milk at
5 C is a function of the fat content and ranges from
2.96 103 Pa.s (skim milk) to 3.25 103 Pa.s (whole
milk), whereas at 20 C the ranges for the skim and whole
milks are 1.79 103 Pa.s and 1.3 103 Pa.s (Spreer,
1998).
The viscosity of sheep milk is reportedly much higher
than that of goat or cow milk, cow milk being the lowest.
The viscosity of Egyptian camel milk was estimated at
2.2 cPas (Hassan et al., 1987) and 2.35 cPas (El-Agamy,
1983), which is higher than for cows (1.7 cPas) and goats
(2.12 cPas), but less than for sheep (2.48 cPas), and similar to that of buffalo milk (2.2 cPas) (Mehaia, 1974).
2.2. Effect of temperature and incubation time on
milk viscosity
The dynamic viscosity value decreases when temperature increases. The contribution of casein micelles
appears to closely depend on temperature. Milk increases
in viscosity upon heating to the point of coagulation of
the proteins, which is the basis for producing high viscosity in superheated condensed milk (Jenness and Patton,
1976). The voluminosity of the micelles is markedly
increased at low temperature, and part of the -casein
becomes dissociated from the micelles, resulting in a
steep increase in viscosity (Walstra et al., 1999).
Temperature apparently affects viscosity in various
ways. When the serum proteins become insoluble in
skim milk due to heat treatment, the viscosity of skim
milk increases by about 10%. This increase in viscosity may be explained by increase in voluminosity of

Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

Fig. 1. Effect of milk source on viscosity-incubation time curves

(Jumah et al., 2001).

the serum proteins (Walstra et al., 1999). Heat stability of goat milk is considerably lower than of bovine
milk (Remeuf, 1992), which may be attributed to the
high ionic calcium content and low micellular solvation
in caprine milk which would contribute to its heat instability.
The effect of different species milks on viscosityincubation time was studied by Jumah et al. (2001).
They found that sheep milk reached the highest viscosity value, followed by caprine and bovine milk (Fig. 1).
The differences in viscosity between species appeared
to be due to the differences in total solids contents of the
milks, which caused a significant effect on the firmness
of yogurt curd (Tamine and Robinson, 1985; Jumah et
al., 2001). The higher viscosity may also be attributable
to an increased water-binding capacity in the milk proteins (Labropoulos et al., 1984). On the other hand, camel
milk did not show any elevation in viscosity during the
gelation process which might be accounted for by the
lower protein content (Jumah et al., 2001).

75

Cheese curd clotting times for sheep milk are shorter

at lower pHs. Renneting time decreased from 17 min
to 7 min when the pH of sheep milk was lowered from
6.65 to 6.16 (Bencini, 2002). Curd consistency in sheep
milk is largely unaffected by temperature, particularly at
lower pH (Bencini, 2002), where the curd consistency
would be an important factor for viscoelastic properties
of sheep milk cheese.
The role of pH in cheese texture is particularly important because changes in pH are related directly to chemical changes in the protein network of the cheese curd
(Pinho et al., 2004). However, the influence of water
activity and salt content on rheological properties of
cheese is indirect. A high level of salt increases the
osmotic pressure, which diverts significant amounts of
water from the structural bonds of the casein network
(Prentice, 1991). On the other hand, decreased water
activity would result in a reduced proteolytic activity
in cheese.
The most important factors in the acid curd structure
formation are casein content, pH and calcium content
of the milk. At low pH, calcium is progressively dissociated from the casein micelle. In addition to this, the
neutralization of the negative charges of the casein favors
extensive aggregation and fusion between the micelles,
which tend to form a gel (Parry, 1974). At pH 4.6, a
casein network is formed and the other components are
entrapped in it.
Jumah et al. (2001) observed similar curve trends
of viscositypH profiles of ovine, caprine, bovine and
camel milks to the viscosity-incubation time profiles
(Fig. 2). No viscosity changes were noted with a drop in
the pH 6.45.4 range, where the casein micelles appeared
to be uniform in size and distribution (Hassan et al.,

2.3. Effect of pH on milk viscosity

The viscosity of milk increases as the pH of milk
increases, which is presumably attributable to the additional swelling of casein micelles (Walstra et al., 1999).
A slight decrease in milk pH usually causes a small
decrease in viscosity, whereas a more drastic decrease
in pH leads to an increase in milk value because of
aggregation of casein (Walstra et al., 1999). The viscosity of milk is little affected by homogenization, while
that of cream would be significantly increased.

Fig. 2. Effect of milk source on viscositypH curves (Jumah et al.,

2001).

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

1995). At pH 5.45.3, the maximum viscosity increase

was observed, and the casein became coarser at this stage
indicating the initiation of aggregation, which formed
a three-dimensional network composed of clusters and
chains (Hassan et al., 1995) In the pH range of 5.14.6,
a decrease in viscosity occurred.
2.4. Effect of chemical characteristics on rheology
of goat and sheep milk
Viscosity is elevated with protein coagulation and
increasing fat content (Spreer, 1998). Casein micelles
are fairly voluminous, where dry casein may occupy
about 0.7 ml/g and the rest of the volume is water, while
micelle voluminosity is about 4 ml/g of casein (Walstra
et al., 1999). Some conditions and treatments that affect
the stability of casein can significantly influence the viscosity of milk, which include acidity, salt balance, heat
treatment, and the action of various enzymes and bacteria
(Jenness and Patton, 1976).
The effect of milk fat on the viscosity of whole milk
may not be as high as that of casein. However, the amount
of fat, the fat globule size and the extent of clustering of
the globules significantly affect milk viscosity (Jenness
and Patton, 1976). Homogenization causes increases in
the amount of fat surface, the amount of protein bound by
the fat particles, and the degree of clustering and clumping of the fat contribute to the increasing viscosity of
milk (Jenness and Patton, 1976).
Goat milk has poorer cheesemaking ability compared
to cow milk counterparts due to lower casein content
of caprine milk, and differences in casein micelle composition, size and hydration between the two species
(Remeuf, 1992). The lower casein content and lower
casein number of goat milk compared to cow milk
(casein/total nitrogen: 75% versus 78%; Jenness, 1980;
Grappin et al., 1981) are responsible for reduced cheese
yield (Ricordeau and Mocquot, 1967) and affect cheese
texture and rheology. Goat milk produces a more fragile rennet curd than bovine milk (Abou-Dawood and
El-Sawaf, 1977). Even when casein concentrations are
equal, caprine rennet curd is softer than bovine counterparts (Remeuf et al., 1989). In cheesemaking, a poor
coagulum strength can lead to more cheese particle
losses in whey, lower cheese yield and likely less textural integrity. The uniqueness of renneting kinetic of goat
milk has also been characterized as a shorter coagulation
time and greater hardening rate (Puri and Parkash, 1962;
Remeuf et al., 1989).
The main physico-chemical factors affecting variation in renneting properties of individual caprine milk
include: casein content, total and colloidal calcium con-

centrations, average size of casein micelles, and s /casein ratio (Remeuf et al., 1989). The difference of
strength between bovine and caprine coagulum is essentially accounted for by the differences between casein
micellular size and hydration of the two milks (Remeuf
et al., 1989).
Goat milk contains the same four casein fractions as
bovine milk such as s1 , s2 , , and caseins. s1 Casein has very large individual quantitative variations
due to the occurrence of genetic polymorphisms (Addeo
et al., 1987; Grosclaude et al., 1987). This polymorphism
makes great variations in milk s1 -casein levels from
approximately 25% in certain milks to total lack in others. Reports have shown that s1 -casein polymorphism
has a significant influence on cheesemaking properties
of goat milk (Remeuf, 1992), which would in turn have
a significant impact on cheese textural quality.
In a study of cheese production potential of milk of
Dahlem Cashmere (DC) goat in relation to rheological aspects, Dimassi et al. (2005) reported that cheese
production efficiency was directly proportional to aggregation rate and coagulation time. The DC breed had
significantly higher curd firmness and faster aggregation rate, because the DC goats had much higher protein
and casein content than the German Fawn breed. During
coagulation, destabilized casein micelles and calciumphosphate bonds form a network which entraps fat and
other solids. The casein network is formed faster with
higher proteins mainly casein content, which results in
higher aggregation rate and the development of firmer
curd.
Grosclaude et al. (1987) reported that high type variants A, B, and C were associated with higher amounts
of s1 -casein (about 3.6 g/l), intermediate type variant E was associated with intermediate amounts (about
1.6 g/l), and low type variants D and F were associated with low amounts (about 0.6 g/l) of s1 -casein in
goat milk. Clark and Sherbon (2000b) reported that s1 casein genetic variants were not highly correlated with
coagulation properties, and they found that Nubian breed
milk was more likely to contain a high type genetic variant than Alpine breed milk. Clark and Sherbon (2000a)
also showed that Nubian and Nubian Alpine crosses
contained a higher amount of s1 -casein and other milk
components, and exhibited higher coagulation rate and
curd firmness than milk from Toggenburgs and Saanen Alpine crosses. These differences in s1 -casein
contents between different breeds and crosses were
accountable for the variations in texture and rheology
of their corresponding goat milk cheese products.
Sheep milk is higher in fat, protein and total solids
than cow or goat milk (Haenlein and Wendorff, 2006).

Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

The cheese yield is significantly greater per unit of sheep

milk than that of cow and goat milk, because cheese
curd contains primarily the fat and casein from milk
(Anifantakis, 1986). Sheep milk has all major casein
fractions of cow milk (Alichanidis and Polychroniadou,
1996). Casein micelle structure is similar in cow,
goat and sheep milk, while sheep milk caseins are
richer in calcium than cow casein (Alichanidis and
Polychroniadou, 1996). Since casein is the critical component in milk that forms the primary structure of the
curd of cheese, the clotting or coagulation of milk would
affect the resultant cheese composition, texture and rheology.
Sheep milk is very sensitive to rennet, because it has
a higher /s -casein ratio, and also coagulation in sheep
milk proceeds faster than in cow milk (Muir et al., 1993).
This suggests that mode and amount of rennet addition
to sheep milk would definitely influence the final texture
and rheological characteristics of the cheese. Sheep milk
also requires less rennet than cow milk to obtain the same
coagulation time (Kalantzopoulos, 1993). Although the
rate of curd formation in sheep milk is faster than in
cow milk, the rate of syneresis in the former is slower
than in the later (Muir et al., 1993), which is due to the
higher casein and colloidal calcium content in sheep milk
(Storry and Ford, 1982).
3. Rheological methods as a means of evaluating
functionality of dairy foods
Texture plays an important role in the quality of
cheese, while the textural measurements of cheese are
complicated and confusing (Chen et al., 1979). The texturometer can measure several textural properties such
as hardness, chewiness, elasticity, which was invented
by Friedman et al. (1963). Bourne (1968) discovered
that the measurements from the texturometer can be
obtained with the Instron Testing Machine. The correlation between textural measures of texturometer and sensory scores of a taste panel on several Cheddar cheeses
revealed that only hardness was significantly correlated,
but adhesiveness was not (Brennan et al., 1970). In a
study using both the texturometer and the Instron by the
same research group a few years later, the highest correlation coefficient was found between sensory evaluation
and the Instron data (Brennan et al., 1975).
There are three categories for measurement of textural or rheological characteristics, which are empirical,
imitative, and fundamental tests (Scott-Blair, 1969).
Empirical measurements involve test conditions that
cannot usually be compared with those of more rigorous
experiments (Tunick and Van Hekken, 2002). Imitative

77

tests can be performed by texture profile analysis (TPA)

and torsion gelometry, and fundamental tests can be conducted using small amplitude oscillatory shear analysis
(SAOSA).
3.1. Empirical tests
Empirical tests can be as simple as manipulating curd
or cheese with the fingers, and supply basic, singlepoint information (Tunick, 2000). Ball compressors,
penetrometers, and curd tension meters have been used
as empirically measuring tools for rheological attributes
of cheese in cheese plants for many years (Szczesniak,
1963). These equipments are not regarded as precision instruments because of the arbitrary test conditions
(Voisey, 1976), and the test results are difficult to compare with those from more rigorous experiments (Rao
and Skinner, 1986).
3.2. Imitative tests
Volodkevich (1938) demonstrated the first imitative
tests, which consisted of two wedges exerting biting and
squeezing action on the sample held between the wedges.
Later, these imitative tests were developed into motorized dentures with strain gauges by Proctor et al. (1955).
For the next development, Friedman et al. (1963) introduced texturometers in the early 1960s. These machines
can compress bite-sized samples to produce forcetime
curves, whereby the analysis succeeded several years
later with universal testing machines, which are now
widely used for texture profile analysis (TPA).
3.2.1. Texture prole analysis (TPA)
Texture profile analysis utilizes the universal testing
machine which mimics chewing through the use of large
destructive shears, and the hardness, springiness, and
cohesive nature of the food are calculated (Van Hekken
et al., 2004). However, these tests can also be regarded as
empirical because there are no corrections for changes
in the shape of the specimen. TPA is useful for making
comparisons, while it does not measure true rheological
properties (Tunick and Van Hekken, 2002).
TPA is carried out by dropping a crosshead down
a vertical column, which causes a flat plate to deform
a cylindrical sample specimen placed on a lower plate
(Tunick, 2000). The crosshead of the universal testing
machine returns at the same rate and repeats the procedure, closely mimicking the action of biting twice on a
piece of cheese. A TPA curve with force versus time for
Mozzarella cheese is shown in Fig. 3 (Tunick, 2000).

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

Fig. 3. Texture profile analysis curve for cow milk Mozzarella cheese
(Tunick, 2000).

Likewise, Table 1 lists the textural parameters which

can be derived from a TPA curve. Szczesniak (1995)
clarified that chewiness and gumminess cannot be calculated for the same product, because chewiness is for a
solid food and gumminess is for a semisolid food, where
a semisolid food undergoes permanent deformation and
has no springiness.
3.3. Fundamental tests
Fundamental tests on cheese include compression,
dynamic and transient tests. Small amplitude oscillatory
shear analysis (SAOSA) and torsion analysis (TA) are
the two representative fundamental tests. Cheese specimens used in these tests are of a specific shape, and
deformed in a specific manner, which allows a rheologist to analyze the results systematically (Tunick and

Fig. 4. Forcestrain curve for cow milk Mozzarella cheese in uniaxial

compression, showing points at which structure begins to break down
and then fractures (Tunick, 2000).

Nolan, 1992). Tunick (2000) postulated that in the simplest fundamental test, uniaxial compression, a stress
(force per unit area) is applied downward to a sample,
and the resulting deformation is measured as Couchy
or engineering strain (ratio of height change to original
height). An example diagram is shown in Fig. 4, which
is a forcestrain curve for Mozzarella obtained by a universal testing machine. Tunick (2000) further delineated
that an inflection point appears if the structure begins to
break down, and the cheese sample is to be fractured at
60% compression as the breakage of the internal bonds
occur.
3.3.1. Small amplitude oscillatory shear analysis
(SAOSA)
It is a fundamental test for rheological properties,
which uses specific specimen geometries and instru-

Table 1
Definitions and calculations of texture terms (Szczesniak, 1963; Bourne, 1968; Tunick, 2000)
Term

Definition

Obtained from

Calculation (and
units) using Fig. 3

Fracturability

Force with which food fractures

Height of F (N)

Hardness

Force needed to attain a given deformation

Adhesiveness

Work needed to overcome attractive force

between food and other surface
Strength of foods internal bonds

Force at first significant break (if any) in

curve
Maximum force during first compression
cycle
Force area of negative peak (if any)
following first peak
Ratio of positive force area of second peak to
that of first peak
Height specimen recovers between end of
first compression cycle and start of second
Product of hardness and cohesiveness (N)

Cohesiveness
Springiness
Gumminess
Chewiness

Rate at which deformed food returns to

original condition after removal of force
Force needed to disintegrate a semisolid food
to a state ready for swallowing
Work needed to masticate a solid food to a
state ready for swallowing

Product of hardness, cohesiveness, and

springiness (J)

Height of H (N)
Area of A (J)
Ratio of A2 area to
A1 area (none)
Length of S (mm)

Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

ments, allowing systematic analysis of the results

(Tunick and Van Hekken, 2002). SAOSA stretches
internal bonds using small-strain oscillatory motion
and measures the viscoelastic characteristics (elastic
and viscous moduli, complex viscosity) of the cheese
curd (Van Hekken et al., 2004). In SAOSA tests, stress
and strain are linearly dependent on one another and
the sample does not fracture or change shape (Tunick
and Van Hekken, 2002). SAOSA tests provide data for
viscoelastic properties including storage modulus (G ),
loss modulus (G ), and complex viscosity (* ) (Tunick,
2000). These tests are called dynamic tests because they
measure dynamically, varying either stress or strain
harmonically with time.
3.3.2. Torsion analysis (TA)
Torsion analysis or torsion gelometry is another fundamental test of rheology. In TA, specimens are twisted
in a viscometer with the shear stress and shear strain
being measured at the fracture point (Tunick and Van
Hekken, 2002). For cheese analysis, cheese specimens
are milled into a capstan shape so that the fracture
takes place at the narrow center of the specimen. Under
these conditions, Hamann and Foegeding (1994) indicated that fracture can occur in compression, shear, or
tension mode, which are imposed at equal magnitudes
in different directions. TA has recently received more
attention in research because improvements in this technique have reduced the difficulties previously involved
in sample preparation and analysis (Tunick and Van
Hekken, 2002). Since TA measures fundamental rheological properties at the fracture point, it would be
valuable in analyzing cheese samples as they are broken or fractured when scientists and consumers cut or
bite their cheeses.
3.4. Cheese rheology studies using TPA, SAOSA, TA
and sensory scores
In a comparison study of TA, TPA and sensory texture of various gels, Montejano et al. (1986) found that
the highest correlations among instrumental parameters
were between shear stress and TPA hardness, and shear
strain and TPA cohesiveness.
In another study with fresh and aged Brick, Cheddar, Colby, Gouda, Havarti, Mozzarella, and Romano
cow cheeses, Tunick and Van Hekken (2002) showed
that there were strong correlations (>0.8) between torsion shear stress and TPA hardness, and between torsion
shear strain and TPA cohesiveness. They also found that
SAOSA did not correlate with TA nor TPA, while torsion data could be used to draw a map depicting trends

79

during aging toward brittle, mushy, rubbery, and tough

texture.
4. Recent research on rheological characteristics
of goat and sheep milk products
4.1. Rheological characteristics of cheeses
Tunick (2000) pointed out that the texture of a cheese
is as important as its flavor, and most of the rheological research on solid dairy foods has dealt with cheese
(Lawrence et al., 1987). The texture is closely related
to the specific proteins in the cheese. The quantity and
distribution of the caseins, as well as the manufacturing
steps, determine the structure of the cheese matrix (Van
Hekken et al., 2004). Attributes such as fracture will
depend on factors including time and rate of deformation, type of deformation used (tension or shear), cheese
composition, temperature, and repeatability of specimen
geometry, whereby the interpretation of all rheological
results may need a degree of caution (Olson et al., 1996).
Natural cheese is not entirely isotropic or homogeneous,
and its rheological behavior is nonlinear outside of certain limits (Tunick, 2000).
With some minor genetic variations, the chemical
makeup of caseins in caprine and bovine milks is similar
in amino acid sequence and structure, and responds to
proteolytic enzymes in similar manners (Trujillo et al.,
1997; Awad et al., 1998), whereas the ratio of caseins in
the milks are not the same.
4.1.1. Rheology of goat milk cheeses
In a study with young Monterey Jack (MJ) goat milk
cheeses, Park et al. (2000) characterized various rheological properties of the MJ cheeses stored at 4 C for 1
and 4 weeks, and observed that the curds of the goat milk
cheeses appeared to be knitting with time, as reflected in
the springiness, G as well as shear strain results (Fig. 5).
The increased meltability and viscosity values of the
cheeses also occurred in the elevated G , and * data
with storage time (Fig. 5). As the cheeses aged, they
became softer as seen by hardness and shear stress values, and more rubbery as seen when plotting shear stress
and strain on a texture map. The moisture contents of
cheeses A and B were 43.4% and 45.8%, respectively.
The higher moisture cheese B was a softer, springier, and
more viscous cheese than cheese A, probably due to compositional differences stemming from problems involved
in the pressing step of manufacture. It was concluded
that the young goat milk Monterey Jack cheeses became
more elastic, cohesive, meltable, viscous and softer after
4 weeks of aging presumably due to proteolysis.

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

Fig. 5. Comparison of meltability, springness and cohesiveness

between 1 week and 4 weeks aged young Monterey Jack (MJ) goat
milk cheeses (Park et al., 2000). (a) Meltability of young MJ cheeses
A and B; (b) springness of young MJ cheeses A and B; (c) cohesiveness
of young MJ cheeses A and B.

Van Hekken et al. (2004) conducted an extensive

study on rheological and proteolytic properties of Monterey Jack goat milk cheese stored for 6 month frozen
and 4 weeks refrigeration conditions, and reported several rheological characteristics including small-strain
dynamic analysis results (Fig. 6). Similar trends were
observed for all three indices of G , G , and * of the
cheeses over the 26 weeks of storage. Also, viscoelastic properties of the MJ cheese significantly increased
over the first 48 weeks of storage and then remained
constant for the rest of 26 weeks of storage. The G ,

Fig. 6. SAOSA analysis on viscoelastic properties [(a) elastic modulus,

G ; (b) viscous modulus, G ; and (c) complex viscosity, * ] of goat
milk Monterey Jack cheese (Van Hekken et al., 2004).

which measures the energy stored or the elastic properties of the cheeses, increased significantly from 13.8 kPa
to 35.1 kPa over the first 8 weeks. The G , which measures the energy lost or the flow properties of the cheeses,
increased significantly from 4.17 kPa to 12.7 kPa over the
first 4 weeks. The * , which measures the phase relationships (G /G ), increased significantly from 1.44 kPa s
to 3.91 kPa s over the first 8 weeks. There was a high
correlation between the SAOSA and proteolysis data
(Table 2) as the elastic (G ) and complex viscosity (* )
properties of the cheese increased. The concentration
of peptides in the 2218 kDa range also increased with
r values of 0.92 and 0.90, respectively. This correlation was expected as proteolysis of caseins disrupts

Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

81

Table 2
Summary of correlation factors (P < 0.05) among proteins and peptide concentrations and rheological properties of Monterey Jack goat cheese
Rheological properties

Proteins

Peptides (kDa)

Protein:peptide

s2 -CN

-CN

2218

1815

SAOSA
Elastic modulus, G
Viscous modulus, G
Complex viscosity, *

0.84
0.68
0.81

0.81
0.65
0.78

0.92
0.82
0.90

0.01
0.14
0.02

0.29
0.09
0.25

0.95
0.86
0.93

TPA
Hardness
Springiness
Cohesiveness

0.99
0.79
0.83

0.97
0.91
0.80

0.96
0.70
0.85

0.26
0.62
0.14

0.59
0.71
0.33

0.96
0.90
0.83

TA
Shear stress
Shear strain
Shear rigidity

0.89
0.67
0.87

0.92
0.64
0.88

0.86
0.83
0.90

0.31
0.17
0.17

0.60
0.01
0.42

0.95
0.84
0.98

<14

Van Hekken et al. (2004); SAOSA: small amplitude oscillatory shear analysis; TPA: texture profile analysis; TA: torsion analysis.

the protein bonds and the cheese matrix becomes more

flexible.
In the same study, Van Hekken et al. (2004) found
from the texture profile analysis (TPA) that the hardness of the cheese decreased significantly from 43.4 N
to 26.7 N over the first 8 weeks of storage, while no significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed between 8
and 26 weeks of storage. The springiness of the MJ goat
cheese increased significantly from 7.8 mm to 9.2 mm
over the first 4 weeks of storage and then did not change
significantly over the next 5 months of storage. After only
1 week of storage, the cheese had the lowest cohesiveness and was significantly lower than the cohesiveness
of cheese aged for 16 weeks. They also observed that
hardness of the cheese was correlated with -CN (0.97),
s2 -CN (0.99), and negatively correlated with the peptides in the 2218 kDa range (0.91) (Table 2).
For torsion analysis of the same MJ cheese (Fig. 7),
Van Hekken et al. (2004) showed that the shear stress
at point of fracture and the shear rigidity (stress/strain)
at the point of fracture had similar trends and significantly decreased over the first 8 weeks of storage but
did not change significantly over the rest of the study.
Between weeks 1 and 8, shear stress decreased from
28.4 kPa to 18.3 kPa and shear rigidity decreased from
29.4 kPa to 14.9 kPa. The shear strain at point of fracture
significantly increased from 0.97 to 1.20 over the first 4
weeks of storage, peaked at 1.28 at 16 weeks, and then
significantly decreased to 1.14 at week 26. They also
noted that shear stress at the point of fracture was correlated with -CN (0.92) and shear rigidity correlated
negatively to the large peptides at 2218 kDa (0.90)
(Table 2).

In a rheological study of Jack goat milk cheese, the

force required to compress cheese 20% and 75% during
the first and second compression cycles was evaluated
(Attaie, 2005). There was no major trend in the force
required to compress the cheese 20% or 75% during the
second compression cycle. The slopes of the lines (force
versus ripening time) for the first and second compressions were same, indicating that the cheese matrix had
lost structural integrity at the second compression cycle.
The intercept of data from the TPA is a measure of the
force needed for compression and fracture of curd.
Concerning of rheology of soft goat milk cheeses,
Van Hekken et al. (2005) also studied the effect of frozen
storage on proteolytic and rheological properties of commercial soft caprine milk cheese produced in the US.
They observed that the fresh control cheeses had a fragile texture. At day 1, the frozen control cheeses (stored
20 C for 2 days before being thawed and aged) usually
had significantly lower values for rheological properties relative to the fresh control cheeses, while 6 months
frozen cheeses tended to have the highest values. They
also postulated that the creation and removal of ice crystals in the cheese matrix and the limited proteolysis of
the caseins have small, but measurable, impact on cheese
texture. However, since the rheological changes were so
small, soft cheeses may be supplied throughout the year
by frozen-storage method with minimal loss of texture
quality.
Using the commercial plain soft goat milk cheeses
produced in the US, Park and Drake (2005) examined
sensory characteristics of the fresh, 0 and 3 months
frozen cheeses in relation to organic acid contents and
textural properties. They observed that the differences

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

Fig. 8. Changes in moisture and water activity (aw ) of Terrincho sheep

milk cheese (Pinho et al., 2004).

Fig. 7. Torsion analysis properties [(a) shear stress, (b) shear strain,
and (c) shear rigidity at point of fracture] of goat milk Monterey Jack
cheese (Van Hekken et al., 2004).

of the sensory scores in the cheeses among the storage treatment groups at the initial stages (0 day refrigeration aging after thaw) were not significant. However, prolonged refrigerated storage at 4 C, regardless of frozen-storage treatment, caused some (P < 0.05)
changes in most flavor scores including cooked/milky,
diacetyl, milkfat flavors, brothy, waxy, sweetness, sourness, saltiness, freshness, yeasty, and oxidized flavors
across all treatment groups. The rheological properties
of the frozen goat cheeses had significantly lower values
compared to the fresh control cheese (Van Hekken et al.,
2005).
4.1.2. Rheology of sheep milk cheeses
Terrincho sheep cheese is a typical product of the
north-eastern region of Portugal and is manufactured

from raw Churra da Terra Quente ewe milk. Pinho et

al. (2004) evaluated the changes in chemical parameters
(moisture, acidity, pH, and water activity) and physical
parameters (color and texture) of Terrincho sheep milk
cheese during 60 days ripening, and also determined
correlations between the changes in instrumental texture and color parameters, and the ripening time of the
products.
During the first 20 days of ripening, Pinho et al. (2004)
observed an increase in hardness, fracturability, gumminess, chewiness, and yellowness of the Terrincho sheep
milk cheese, while there were concomitant decreases in
adhesiveness, resilience, L* (inside cheese, i and external e), and cohesiveness in the sheep cheese.
Pinho et al. (2004) also found that moisture and water
activity were significantly decreased during 60 days of
ripening (Fig. 8), where these parameters would greatly
affect proteolytic activity in cheese. The ripening of the
sheep cheese caused increases in acidity, and decreases
in pH up to 30 days, but slight increases between 30
days and 60 days. These pH changes may indicate the
important metabolic activity of lactic acid bacteria in the
sheep cheese as shown in Fig. 9. Lawrence et al. (1987)
suggested that the decrease in pH would be related to

Fig. 9. Changes in acidity and pH during 60 days of ripening in Terrincho sheep milk cheese (Pinho et al., 2004).

Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

83

milk (Kalantzopoulos, 1993). Several factors can influence the final feta cheese texture, such as fat, protein and
moisture content as well as salt content during brining. It
has been shown that high acidity, protein, and total solids
contents generally make the cheese harder and less easily deformed (Creamer and Olson, 1982; Kehagias et al.,
1995).

Fig. 10. Categorical principal component biplot showing the relationship between mean values from texture profile analysis and color
parameters and mean sensory scores from four texture attributes and
color intensity of sheep milk cheeses from B, V, R, T, and M dairy
plants (Pinho et al., 2004).

texture parameters because no fusion of curd particles

would occur until pH value of approximately 5.8.
Pinho et al. (2004) noted that the grouping of Terrincho sheep cheese according to TPA analysis, color and
sensory attributes, was similar to the grouping according
to instrumental analysis (Fig. 10). The sensory panelists
were able to distinguish differences between cheeses
from B and M dairy plants and cheeses from the other
dairy plants (R, T, and V), in which the three cheeses had
similar chemical and sensory characteristics. Fig. 10 also
demonstrates that color intensity, hardness on the mouth,
fracturability when cutting with a knife, and elasticity,
when pressing with the fingers, were positively correlated with b* (e), b(i), TPA hardness, TPA fracturability,
and TPA springiness. The authors found only sensory
adhesiveness was not correlated with TPA adhesiveness.
Feta cheese belongs to the family of white-brined
cheeses that are indigenous to Greece, the Mediterranean, and Middle East regions (Tsigkros et al., 2003).
It is a semihard, crumbly variety with a salty, slightly
acid taste (Anifantakis, 1991). Feta cheese with a higher
proportion of caprine milk had a more compact and less
porous appearance than feta produced from purely ovine
milk (Tsigkros et al., 2003). The hardness of the feta
cheese was increased with increasing caprine milk concentration from a force of 2.453.65 N over a range from
pure ovine cheese to 30% caprine milk addition. Pure
caprine milk gave a harder cheese with a stronger flavor
than that produced using pure ovine milk (Tsigkros et
al., 2003). These differences might be due to different
casein structures or concentrations in the milks, where
ovine milk contains higher levels of casein than caprine

4.1.3. Rheology of cow milk cheeses

Textural characteristics of representative cow cheese
varieties were tested in sensory evaluation by Chen et al.
(1979). A sensory panel determined: (1) hardness as the
force required to penetrate the cheese sample with the
molar teeth, (2) cohesiveness as the degree to which the
cheese sample deforms before rupturing, (3) adhesiveness as the force required to remove the cheese sample
that adheres to the mouth surface, and (4) chewiness as
the time required to masticate the cheese sample at a constant rate of force application to reduce it to a consistency
suitable for swallowing.
The range of hardness was based on the amount of
force required to rupture the sample between the molar
teeth for Parmesan cheese as 13 and cream cheese as 1
scale, used as the reference standards (Chen et al., 1979).
As shown in Fig. 11, Parmesan cheese was greatest, followed by Edam, Gouda, Swiss, Cheddar and Mozzarella
cheeses, and the processed Cheddar cheese was the least
in hardness.
Each of the textural measurements for the 11 cow
cheeses was correlated with composition and pH by Multiple Linear Regression Analysis (Chen et al., 1979). For

Fig. 11. Hardness of cow cheeses (Chen et al., 1979).

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

Table 3
Multiple linear regression coefficients of textural properties on composition and pH (Chen et al., 1979)

Protein
Water
Fat
NaCl
pH
Constant
Correlation coefficient

Hardness

Cohesiveness

Gumminess

Chewiness

Adhesiveness

Elasticity

0.216
0.056
0.005
1.00
0.665
3.25
0.923

0.017
0.023
0.009
0.017
0.311
3.01
0.886

0.116
0.023
0.007
0.259
0.439
5.3
0.977

0.065
0.019
0.010
0.240
0.261
3.23
0.965

0.963
0.272
0.090
2.67
3.47
44.0
0.953

0.002
0.011
0.004
0.051
0.045
0.103
0.873

this regression analysis, the textural measure was the

dependent variable, and protein, water, fat, NaCl contents, and pH were independent variables. The results
of the stepwise regression analysis are summarized in
Table 3. For example, a typical regression equation for
hardness is expressed as:
hardness = 3.25 + 0.216(protein) 0.0558(water)
0.0054(fat) 1.00(NaCl) + 0.665(pH)
As shown in Fig. 12, the elasticity was highest for
Mozzarella, followed by Brick, Swiss and Processed
Cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese was the lowest.
For cohesiveness measurements, the cheese sample was
placed between the molar teeth, and the force was exerted
slowly as the sample deformed. The degree of deformation prior to rupturing as determined by comparing

Fig. 12. Elasticity of cow cheeses (Chen et al., 1979).

each sample with the range of all the samples, with 5

being low, 9 moderate and 13 high cohesiveness (Chen
et al., 1979). The same authors also observed that the
order of strength in cohesiveness was Processed Cheddar
cheese, Muenster, Mozzarella, Provolone, Brick, Swiss,
Colby, Edam, Gouda, Parmesan and Cheddar cheese
(Fig. 13).
Torsion gelometry was compared to vane rheometry
in tests on Cheddar, Mozzarella, and processed cheeses
(Truong and Daubert, 2001). They reported that Cheddar, the hardest cheese they tested, exhibited the highest
shear stress; and Mozzarella, the most elastic cheese
in their experiments, exhibited the highest shear strain.
Gwartney et al. (2002) conducted torsion gelometry
to determine texture scores from a sensory panel for
low- and full-fat Monterey Jack, Cheddar and American cheeses, and found that fracture stress and strain
were each significantly correlated with several sensory
descriptors.

Fig. 13. Cohesiveness of cow cheeses (Chen et al., 1979).

Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

85

4.2. Rheological characteristics of yogurts

The rheology of yogurt can be measured or characterized by viscometer, curd strength devices, penetrometers, and the vane method (rotating the sample around
a fixed vane) (Tunick, 2000). The rheology of stirred
yogurt is partially attributable to the production of ropy
exopolysaccharides by specific culture strains during
incubation, which prevents gel fracture and syneresis
(Cerning, 1995).
4.2.1. Rheology of goat milk yogurt
The effect of the gelation process on the rheological properties of yogurt curd made from sheep, goat,
cow and camel milks was investigated by Jumah et
al. (2001). They found that the highest value for viscosity was exhibited by sheep milk, followed by goat,
cow and camel milks. Three different transient viscosity stages were identified and described by mathematical
expressions for cow, sheep and goat milk, whereas camel
milk showed no significant variation in viscosity during
gelation.
The milk curd is formed with the acid produced by
lactic acid bacteria, which is a consequence of removing
calcium and neutralizing the negative charges of casein
micelles, causing destabilization of casein, which aggregates and forms a curd (McMahon et al., 1984). Curd
texture or firmness is an important property of yogurt,
which determines the quality and acceptability of the
product. Adequate firmness without syneresis is essential
for the superior quality of yogurt (Kroger, 1973). Using
a rotational viscometer, the yogurt curd profile analysis
technique has become a valuable and extensively used
tool in the research of the enzymatic and nonenzymatic
phases of milk coagulation (Berridge, 1952; Gassem and
Frank, 1991).
Hassan et al. (1995) postulated formation of yogurt
curd structure during acid gelation of milk may occur in
a three-stage process: (a) induction period without any
changes in viscosity, (b) flocculation stage with maximum increases in viscosity, and (c) decrease in viscosity
due to contraction with rearrangement of casein micelles
and the syneresis of gel.
Jumah et al. (2001) determined the flow curves of
yogurt curd during the gelation process and at the maximum viscosity value for sheep, goat, cow and camel
milks (Fig. 14). They found that the measured viscosity decreased with increasing angular velocity of the
inner cylinder, suggesting that the yogurt behaved as a
shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid. Jumah et al. (2001)
showed that the rheological flow properties of shearthinning materials can be most commonly described by

Fig. 14. Effect of milk source (bovine, ovine and caprine) on flow
curves of yogurt curds (Jumah et al., 2001).

a two-parameter power law model of the form as:

= m n
where is the shear stress, the shear rate, m the consistency coefficient, and n is the flow behavior index.
4.2.2. Rheology of sheep milk yogurt
In the Middle East region, concentrated yogurt (labneh) is highly appreciated and consumed with bread all
year round. Labneh has been an important supplementary food to that regions diet and provides vital nutritional elements for growth and good health (Mohameed
et al., 2004). Labneh is a concentrated sheep milk yogurt,
which is defined as a semisolid food derived from yogurt
by draining away part of its water and water-soluble
compounds (Lebanese Standards, 1965). There are two
types of labneh containing 22 wt.% and 40 wt.% solid
concentrations, where the 22% one is manufactured to
be consumed within 2 weeks, which usually stored in
refrigerators, while the 40% product (labneh anbaris)
is stored in vegetable oil at room temperature and consumed within 2 years (Keceli et al., 1999). Labneh made
from sheep milk is less popular and produced in much
less amounts than cow labneh. The cow milk availability
is not the only issue but also the organoleptic acceptance
of cow labneh is higher due to the sharp flavor of sheep
labneh (Mohameed et al., 2004).
Evaluating rheological properties of labneh, Ozer et
al. (1998) found that it is a weak viscoelastic gel where G
was greater than G . Kelly and ODonnell (1998) studied
quarg, which is an acid-precipitated product containing

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Y.W. Park / Small Ruminant Research 68 (2007) 7387

about 80% water, and observed that both proteolysis and

premanufacture hydrolysis decreased G values.
Mohameed et al. (2004) investigated the effect of
solids concentration on the apparent viscosity of sheep
milk labneh using a rotary viscometer, and found that
sheep labneh with different solids concentration exhibited shear-thinning and thixotropic behavior. The power
laws model fitted satisfactorily the apparent viscosityshear rate experimental data, and both the consistency
coefficient and the flow behavior index were correlated
as a function of solids concentration.
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