Crystal fingerprinting: Elucidating the crystals of Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gouda, and soft washed-rind cheeses using powder x-ray diffractometry
Open accessAbstract
Crystals in cheese may be considered defects or positive features, depending on the variety and mode of production (industrial, artisanal). Powder x-ray diffractometry (PXRD) offers a simple means to identify and resolve complex combinations of crystals that contribute to cheese characteristics. The objective of the present research was to demonstrate the application of PXRD to study crystals from a range of different cheese types, specifically Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gouda, and soft washed-rind (smear ripened) cheeses. In studies of Parmigiano-Reggiano and long-aged Gouda, PXRD has confirmed that hard (crunchy) crystals that form abundantly within these cheeses consist of tyrosine. Furthermore, PXRD has tentatively identified the presence of an unusual form of crystalline leucine in large (up to 6 mm in diameter) spherical entities, or "pearls", that occur abundantly in 2-year-old Parmigiano Reggiano and long-aged Gouda cheeses, and on the surface of rindless hard Italian-type cheese. Ongoing investigations into the nature of these "pearls" are providing new insight into the roles that crystals play in the visual appearance and texture of long-aged cheeses. Crystals also sometimes develop profusely in the eyes of long-aged Gouda, which have been shown by PXRD to consist of tyrosine and the aforementioned presumptive form of crystalline leucine. Finally, crystals have been shown by PXRD to form in the smears of soft washed-rind cheeses. These crystals may be associated in some cheeses with gritty mouth feel and with zonal body softening that occurs during ripening. Heightened interest in artisanal cheeses highlights the need to better understand crystals and their contributions to cheese characteristics.
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Numerous tyrosine crystals visible with the naked eye were present in 12-month cheeses.
“Similarly, numerous tyrosine crystals visible with the naked eye were present in 12mo cheeses (Table S2), in agreement with available literature [9,42].”
From Impact of Extending Hard-Cheese Ripening: A Multiparameter Characterization of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Ripened up to 50 Months (2020) · cites this paper as [42]
The Results and discussion sections on Gouda and Parmigiano-Reggiano (page unavailable) describe visible tyrosine crystals in cheeses aged two years. They support the general observation, but do not establish that numerous tyrosine crystals were present in 12-month cheeses. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Tansman, G. F., Kindstedt, P. S., & Hughes, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Vermont (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kindstedt, P. S.
- Venue
- Dairy Science & Technology
- Published
- 2015-05-08
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 651-664
- ISSN
- 1958-5586 (ISSN-L)
- 1958-5594
- PMC
- PMC4768243
- OpenAlex
- W1917665359
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 2.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Dairy Science and Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0922961)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Chemistry and Fat Analysis
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food and Agricultural Sciences
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Proteins in Food Systems
- Keywords
- Cheddar cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, Gouda cheese, cheese eyes, cheese rind, cheese texture, cheese ripening, artisanal cheese, X-ray powder diffraction
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