Characterization of high protein anisotropic structures using Rheological fingerprint by large-deformation Lissajous curves

Our food system needs to change to provide more sustainable diets in the future. In this transition, new formulations are being developed with limited knowledge of their impact on structure and texture development during processing and storage. It is imperative not only to learn the details of the structure but being able to follow the change dynamics to ultimately control processing. In many process operations, where structures are being developed, the deformation can be large, resulting in a non-linear response from the material. Large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) allows measurement of this non-linear viscoelastic behavior. In this work, LAOS rheology was evaluated as a means to characterize the non-linear mechanical response of anisotropic soft food materials during processing. Pizza cheese was used as a model system, due to its well know macroscopic anisotropy of the protein fibers, as a result of the cheese stretching process. A newly developed software was created based on data visualization theory to better highlight non-linear dynamics between samples.