Anisotropy in Tensile Properties of Mozzarella Cheese
M. MEHMET AK and SUNDARAM GUNASEKARAN
ABSTRACT
Effects of sampling direction (parallel or perpendicular to protein fiber
orientation), cheese type (low-moisture, part-skim, LMPS and reduced
fat, RF) and deformation rate (5 and 25 cm/min) on fracture properties
of Mozzarella cheese were determined with tensile tests. The fracture
toughness, stress, and strain in the parallel direction were, respectively,
2.8, 2.1 and 1.4 times greater than those in the perpendicular direction.
This verified that the Mozzarella cheese had anisotropic tensile proper-
ties. A composite-material approach was used to explain the direction-
dependent properties. The toughness, stress, and strain values for RF
cheese were, respectively, 5.9, 5.4, and 1.3 times those of LMPS cheese.
The tensile properties of Mozzarella were also affected by deformation
rate.
Key Words: Mozzarella, cheese, tensile strength, anisotropy, composite
material
INTRODUCTION
MANUFACTURE OF MOZZARELLA CHEESE involves a character-
istic process of kneading and stretching the curd in hot water.
Microscopic studies on the cheese structure show that this process
results in orientation of protein fibers and fat along the stretching
direction (Kiely et al., 1992; Masi and Addeo, 1986; Oberg et
al., 1993; Taneya et al., 1992). Materials with oriented structure
generally exhibit anisotropic physical properties. Meat is a prom-
inent example of food materials with such properties (Purslow,
1987).
Consumer acceptability or commercial value of Mozzarella
cheese is largely determined by its functional and textural at-
tributes (shreddability, stretchability, meltability, hardness and
springiness) closely related to mechanical and rheological prop-
erties. Although functional and rheological properties of Moz-
zarella have been reported extensively (Ak and Gunasekaran,
1995a, b, 1996; Ak et al., 1993; Apostolopoulos, 1994; Apos-
tolopoulos and Marshall, 1994; Cavella et al., 1992; Kindstedt
et al., 1989; Thaker et al., 1991; Tunick et al., 1995) the effect
of sampling direction on such properties has not been reported.
Cervantes et al. (1983) performed compression tests on cubic
samples of Mozzarella at low temperatures (3.5–77C). The force
was larger with many samples when the protein strands were
perpendicular to the compression plates. Those preliminary re-
sults were confirmed with further compression tests on cylin-
drical samples (Ak , 1993).
For some cheeses, anisotropic mechanical properties may be
of considerable commercial importance. For Gruyère de Comté,
a Swiss-type hard cheese, Grappin et al. (1993) reported that
anisotropic rheological properties were important in the forma-
tion of eyes and slits. The number, size and distribution of eyes
and slits have a notable impact on the commercial value of the
cheese.
Our objective was to determine the effects of sampling direc-
tion, cheese type and deformation rate on tensile properties of
Mozzarella cheese. A tension test, which is much more difficult
than a compression test, is expected to yield more definite results
Author Ak is with Istanbul Technical Univ., Chemical-Metallurgi-
cal Eng. Faculty, Dept. of Food Engineering, Maslak 80626 Istan-
bul-TURKIYE. Author Gunasekaran is with the Univ. Of Wisconsin-
Madison, Biological Systems Eng. Dept., Madison, WI 53706. Ad-
dress inquiries to Dr. Gunasekaran.
Volume 62, No. 5, 1997—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—1031
to assess directional dependence of fracture properties (Luyten et
al., 1992; Prentice et al., 1993).
MATERIALS & METHODS
LOW-MOISTURE PART-SKIM (LMPS) and two-thirds reduced fat (RF)
Mozzarella cheeses were studied. Four blocks of each cheese type were
obtained from a local commercial manufacturer and stored in a refrig-
erator until sample preparation. The composition of the cheeses, as re-
ported by the manufacturer, was as follows: LMPS cheese: 50.0%
moisture, 28.2% protein, 17.6% fat, 3.5% carbohydrate, and 0.7% so-
dium; RF cheese: 57.2% moisture, 31.7% protein, 7.0% fat, 3.5% car-
bohydrate, and 0.6% sodium.
Each of the four blocks was divided into two parts—one for parallel
and the other for perpendicular test specimens. Dumbell-shaped speci-
mens were cut parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the
cheese block. The LMPS and RF cheeses were tested on different days
to account for slightly different manufacturing dates so that they would
be of the same age at the time of testing.
The specimens were individually wrapped in Saran film and put in an
incubator for temperature conditioning (;16517C). Tests were per-
formed at that temperature using a tension apparatus attached to an In-
stron Testing Machine (model 1130) fitted with 0.22 or 4.5 kN load cell.
More information on the apparatus has been reported (Ak et al., 1993).
Crosshead speeds of 5 and 25 cm/min were used. Average sample di-
mensions were: length 42 mm, width 7.8 mm and thickness 7.3 mm.
Each test was repeated with six to eight specimens in a completely ran-
domized block design.
Data analysis
The force-deformation data from tensile tests were converted into the
following quantities:
DL
Hencky strain, ε 5 ln [1 1 ] (1)
Lo
F DL
True stress, s 5 [1 1 ] (2)
A0 Lo
εf
Toughness per volume, W 5
1
Vo
* s dε (3)
0
In these expressions, Lo is the initial length of sample, DL the defor-
mation, F the force, Ao the initial cross-sectional area of sample, εf the
fracture strain and Vo the volume of sample.
Tensile fracture stress (or tensile strength) determined from stress-
strain data since the stress decreases sharply when a specimen fails (Fig.
1). Fracture toughness was calculated from the area under the stress-
strain curve up to fracture by using a trapezoidal rule. Fracture strain
determination was more difficult due to the presence of slack at the start
of a test (i.e., toe region on stress-strain data) (Fig. 1).
Statistical evaluation of results was carried out using analysis of var-
iance (ANOVA) procedure of the Statgraphics software (Manugistics,
Inc., Rockville, MD). No interaction term was included in the analysis.
Residuals were checked to assure the aptness of ANOVA. Consequently,
logarithmic transformation of data was necessary for proper use of the
statistical procedure.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
THE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE RESULTS indicated that effects of
sampling direction, cheese type and deformation rate on tensile
properties of Mozzarella cheese were significant (p,0.05). The
TENSILE PROPERTIES OF MOZZARELLA . . .

Fig. 1—Typical force-deformation curve obtained in tension ex-

periments on Mozzarella cheese.

Fig. 2—Schematic of Mozzarella cheese structure as a short-fiber

composite.

Table 1—Mean tensile fracture properties of 14-day-old Mozzarella cheese

Toughness Fracture stress Fracture strain
Factor (kJ/m3) (kPa) (–)
Sampling direction
(A) Parallel 16.2a 70.7a 0.46a
(B) Perpendicular 5.8b 33.5b 0.32b
Cheese type
(A) Reduced-fat 23.6a 112.5a 0.43a
(B) Low-moisture part-skim 4.0b 21.0b 0.34b
Deformation rate Fig. 3—Post-deformation appearance of compressed specimens
(A) 25 cm/min 12.4a 59.3a 0.39a with parallel and perpendicular protein orientation.
(B) 5 cm/min 7.6b 39.8b 0.38a
a,b Different letters indicate significant difference (p , 0.05) between the mean values. characteristics of the melted cheese and on processes such as
shredding remain to be investigated.
Anisotropic tensile properties of Mozzarella may be related
fracture stress (strength) and the toughness were easier to de- to its structure. Using the information from micrographs of Moz-
termine, more sensitive to experimental variables, and less sen- zarella (Oberg et al., 1993) and string (Taneya et al., 1992)
sitive to experimental artifacts (e.g., slack at the start of a test) cheeses, we simplified the structure to that shown (Fig. 2, a
than the fracture strain. short- or discontinuous-fiber composite). In this composite struc-
Fracture toughness, stress and strain of Mozzarella cheese ture, oriented protein strands formed the continuous matrix and
(Table 1) were, respectively, 2.8, 2.1 and 1.4 times greater for aligned fat ‘columns’ formed the discontinuous reinforcing fiber.
samples cut parallel to the long axis of the cheese block than When this composite is stretched parallel to the protein align-
those cut perpendicular to it. Fracture toughness appeared to be ment, all protein strands must be broken for gross failure. How-
the most sensitive to the sampling direction. These results in- ever, in transverse loading the failure is controlled by interface
dicated that stretched-curd Mozzarella cheese had anisotropic bonds between constituents. Higher values of fracture properties
tensile properties. We also observed that parallel samples often in the parallel direction show that the individual protein strands
fractured with 457 angle to the stretching direction (reminiscent are much stronger than interface bonds between constituents.
of shear fracture) whereas perpendicular samples had a square Further evidence of weak interface bonding between constitu-
fracture surface. Effects of anisotropic tensile properties on flow ents was found in the study of Taneya et al. (1992). They reported

1032—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—Volume 62, No. 5, 1997

that string cheese was easy to tear in the perpendicular direction
which could be considered as an indication of weak bonds be-
tween protein strands or protein and fat. Moreover, in a well-
bonded composite system, tensile strength of the composite would
theoretically increase with increasing content of stiff reinforcing
fiber (Harris, 1986). However, our results showed an opposite
trend. The LMPS cheese with more fat, which was presumably
stiffer than the matrix, had much lower tensile strength and frac-
ture toughness than RF cheese (Table 1). Luyten and van Vliet
(1990) had shown that below 207C the fat globule was stiffer
than the protein matrix in Gouda cheese.
With weak interface bonds between constituents, presence of
more fat reduces the effective load-carrying cross-sectional area
of the matrix. This, in turn, results in low fracture properties as
we had observed. Quantitatively, fracture toughness and strength
of RF cheese were, respectively, 5.9 and 5.4 times those for
LMPS cheese (Table 1). The fat-in-dry-matter content was 35.2%
and 16.4% for LMPS and RF cheeses, respectively. LMPS cheese
also exhibited more brittle failure in the sense that its fracture
strain was 0.77 times that of RF cheese.
The fracture toughness and strength of Mozzarella cheese in-
creased, respectively, by 1.6 and 1.5 times with the 5-fold in-
crease in deformation rate (Table 1). There was no significant
change in fracture strain. These results, in agreement with the
earlier findings on LMPS cheese (Ak et al., 1993), confirmed
the viscoelastic nature of Mozzarella cheese.
Previous results from compression experiments on cylindrical
samples of LMPS Mozzarella cheese (Ak, 1993) showed that
force ratio (parallel/perpendicular) at 50% deformation varied
from 0.9 to 1.1 as the cheese aged up to a month. The force
ratios from compression tests were not clearly as great as those
from tension tests. However, an interesting outcome of com-
pression experiments concerned the shape of the deformed spec-
imens. It was consistently circular when compressed parallel to
the protein orientation and elliptical when compressed perpen-
dicular to it (Fig. 3). Cervantes et al. (1983) also noted that
occasionally one section of the surface was more enlarged than
the other when cubic samples of Mozzarella cheese were com-
pressed. We note that, in compression tests, contact surfaces
between the sample and Instron metal plates were lubricated
with mineral oil before each run. Hence, different shapes of the
deformed specimens was more likely due to anisotropic me-
chanical properties.
CONCLUSIONS
FOURTEEN-DAY-OLD MOZZARELLA CHEESE showed anisotropic
tensile properties. The fracture toughness, tensile strength, and
fracture strain of samples with parallel protein orientation were
greater than those with perpendicular protein orientation. The
cheese structure was represented as a short-fiber composite ma-
terial to explain anisotropic tensile properties. The values of
tensile properties for reduced-fat (RF) Mozzarella cheese were
higher than those for low-moisture, part-skim (LMPS) Mozza-
Volume 62, No. 5, 1997—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—1033
rella. Attempts to replace LMPS cheese with RF cheese in pre-
pared foods could be unsuccessful if the differences in tensile
properties persist in the melted state. Both LMPS and RF
cheeses exhibited a viscoelastic response with the deformation
rate.
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Ms received 3/6/97; revised 5/2/97; accepted 5/15/97.
The authors thank the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research for the financial support.