Formulation Optimization Of Processed Cheese By Linear Programming

The project has selected processed cheese as research objective, and established a linear programming model. The variables of linear programming in this project included the addition of water, skim milk powder, whey powder, butter, starch and fresh curd. The objective function of linear programming was the lowest cost of processed cheese, namely the sum of multiplications of the formulation calculated and their corresponding prices. The constraint equations of linear programming were divided into three parts. The first part was constraint equations of the additions of materials. The second part was constraint equations of moisture content, fat content and lactose content of the final product. The third part was constraint equations of the total amount of the mixture which were limited to1000grams.It was focused on the constraint equations of the additions of materials, which were established based on the effects on quality of processed cheese with different additions (based on the total amount of the mixture) of water, skim milk powder, whey powder, butter, starch and fresh curd on the quality of processed cheese through sensory evaluation, the melting experiment and TPA. The project also established the constraint equations of moisture content, fat content and lactose content of the final product.The calculation of linear programming in the subject used LINGO software and got the lowest cost was37.99yuan per1000grams. The formulation was also obtained:the percentage of water was25%, the percentage of skim milk powder was5%, the percentage of whey powder was10.96%, the percentage of cream was7.74%, the percentage of starch was9.27%, the percentage of fresh curd was42.04%.Through producing processed cheese according to the formulation obtained by the linear programming and comparing with the commercial product on sensory evaluation, texture, physical and chemical indicators, volatile flavor compounds and free amino acids, it obtained that the prepared sample was close to commercial product, which showed that the prepared sample was accepted by consumers. Therefore, it was feasible to optimize the formulation of processed cheese by linear programming.The project confirmed that linear programming was an effective method to achieve optimal formulation of processed cheese through establishing linear programming model. Linear programming optimization can not only improve the efficiency and accuracy of the formulation, but also fully take the nutrition and product cost into consideration. The computer formulation provides the optimized combination of technology and economy for the food industry.