Application of self-organizing maps to evaluate the influence and behavior of the film formed during salting of Prato cheese

Abstract Problems related to high blood pressure have led consumers to choose foods with low levels of sodium chloride, and an alternative to reduce the salt content of this salt is its partial replacement with KCl. In order to not affect the sensory properties of cheese, salting was performed using a solution containing 70% of NaCl and 30% of KCl in a static and dynamic system. During the salting process by immersion, the mass transfer is affected by the formation of a film on the cheese surface. The analysis of the diffusion of salts in the film can be performed using self-organizing map (SOM) combined with the Finite Element Method (FEM). Through these tools, a greater influence of the film was observed when the static system was applied and that the diffusion is different according to the studied position. On the biosolid sides the diffusion was more pronounced than in the center, indicating a decrease in the film thickness towards the edges. The SOM combined with 3D modeling showed to be an efficient tool to investigate the formation, influence and behavior of the film during the diffusion of Na+ and K+ on salting of Prato cheese.

摘要：高血压相关健康问题促使消费者偏好低氯化钠含量的食品，而降低食盐钠含量的有效替代方案之一是采用氯化钾（KCl）部分替代氯化钠（NaCl）。为避免影响奶酪的感官特性，研究分别采用静态与动态两种实验体系，使用含70%氯化钠与30%氯化钾的混合溶液开展盐渍实验。在浸渍式盐渍过程中，奶酪表面形成的薄膜会对传质过程产生显著影响。可通过自组织映射（Self-Organizing Map, SOM）结合有限元法（Finite Element Method, FEM）对薄膜内的盐分扩散行为展开分析。借助上述分析工具，研究发现静态体系下薄膜的影响更为突出，且不同采样位置的扩散模式存在显著差异：在奶酪边缘的固形区域，盐分扩散程度较中心区域更为显著，这表明薄膜厚度向边缘方向逐渐减小。结合三维建模的自组织映射方法，可作为高效研究工具，用于探究普拉托奶酪（Prato cheese）盐渍过程中，钠离子（Na+）与钾离子（K+）扩散时薄膜的形成机制、影响效应与行为规律。