Oral Processing of Dairy Products

Abstract

The composition and colloidal structure of the various types of dairy product are relatively homogeneous because they all consist of the same main building blocks: fat globules, casein micelles and aggregates thereof. However, their textures are different as a result of variations in the concentrations of these building blocks and the interactions among them. These differences in texture strongly affect the oral processing of dairy products: liquid dairy products, such as yogurt, remain in the mouth only briefly, whereas solid dairy products, such as cheese, require a larger effort to be transformed into a bolus that can be safely swallowed. This also means that the initial rheological and tribological properties of these foods have very different roles in their sensory appreciation. This chapter explains the oral processing of different dairy products on the basis of their specific composition, colloidal structure and texture. Although the material properties of some of these products can be directly linked to sensory perception, for others, the transformations occurring in the mouth and the rheological and tribological properties of the bolus must also be taken into consideration in explaining sensory perception.