Design of low-frequency ultrasonic sensors for the analysis of the draining stage of cheese production

Georges Nassar (1) , M.N. Sabra (1) , Fabrice Lefebvre , Malika Toubal (1) , Bertrand Nongaillard (1) , Yolande Noël (2)

1 IEMN - Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie - UMR 8520
2 DPE - Délégation au Partenariat avec les Entreprises – DPE

This work presents a new ultrasonic system with a transmission mode in the 100-200 kHz frequency range. The system, composed of ultrasonic point sources, is used to monitor the mechanical properties of cheese during the early phases of production. First, our specialized sensor system is presented, and then the results obtained with the system model are compared to the results of actual experiments using the system to monitor the evolution of the medium during draining. The results of a rheological compliance test and shock pulse ultrasonic amplitude measurements agree and correspond quite accurately to the mechanical properties of the evolving physical state of the medium. This method could be used in the future to study the effect on the final cheese quality of the process parameters that interfere with cheese grain consolidation during the draining process.

Mots clés: Cheese characterization; Cohesion; Ultrasonic

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Georges Nassar, M.N. Sabra, Fabrice Lefebvre, Malika Toubal, Bertrand Nongaillard, et al.. Design of low-frequency ultrasonic sensors for the analysis of the draining stage of cheese production. Proceedings of the 2005 Joint World Congress on Ultrasonics/Ultrasonics International, WCU/UI'05, Aug 2005, Beijing, China. ⟨10.1016/j.ultras.2006.05.100⟩. ⟨hal-00140797⟩