Multicomponent diffusion during Prato cheese ripening: mathematical modeling using the finite element method

Evandro  BONA; Rui Sergio   dos Santos Ferreira da SILVA; Dionísio  BORSATO; Luiz Henry  Monken e SILVA; Dayanne Aline  de Souza FIDELIS

Multicomponent diffusion during Prato cheese ripening: mathematical modeling using the finite element method

Autores

Evandro BONA

Rui Sergio dos Santos Ferreira da SILVA

Dionísio BORSATO

Luiz Henry Monken e SILVA

Dayanne Aline de Souza FIDELIS

Editor

Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos

Descripción

The partial replacement of NaCl by KCl is a promising alternative to produce a cheese with lower sodium content since KCl does not change the final quality of the cheese product. In order to assure proper salt proportions, mathematical models are employed to control the product process and simulate the multicomponent diffusion during the reduced salt cheese ripening period. The generalized Fick’s Second Law is widely accepted as the primary mass transfer model within solid foods. The Finite Element Method (FEM) was used to solve the system of differential equations formed. Therefore, a NaCl and KCl multicomponent diffusion was simulated using a 20% (w/w) static brine with 70% NaCl and 30% KCl during Prato cheese (a Brazilian semi-hard cheese) salting and ripening. The theoretical results were compared with experimental data, and indicated that the deviation was 4.43% for NaCl and 4.72% for KCl validating the proposed model for the production of good quality, reduced-sodium cheeses.