CheeseScience.net: MSc

MSc

First graduating class of the MSc (Appl Sci) in Food Science were conferred with their degrees on December 12, 2007. Back row: Kostas Christodoulou (Greece), Liam O'Connell (Ireland), Prof Paul McSweeney, Antonio Sullo (Italy). Front row: Claire Murphy (Ireland) and Jie Zhang (China). Not shown are Paul Kinahan (Ireland) and Leonardo Cornacchia (Italy).

Second graduating class of the MSc (Appl Sci) in Food Science (2007-2008). From left to right, Prof YH Roos (Dean), Dandan Xie (China), Caroline Furlong (Ireland), Prof PLH McSweeney (programme coordinator), Agnieszka Gdanska (Poland), Conor Coughlan (Ireland). Not shown is Nadia Hartopoulou (Greece).

MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science

Welcome to the MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science, a one-year masters degree programme offered by the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork.

Programme Overview

The MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science is a one-year taught post-graduate programme in Food Science consisting of 90 ECTS credits including library and laboratory research projects (~40 credits). Courses (~50 credits) will include modules in research methods, land advanced courses in established and emerging areas of Food Science. Candidates must normally be holders of an honours BSc degree, or equivalent, in Food Science, Nutritional Sciences, Microbiology, Biological or Chemical Sciences, Food Business or related fields.
UCC has a history of nearly a century of teaching and research in the Food Sciences and now is amongst Europe’s largest multidisciplinary education and research institutions with world-class academics working in all aspects of the food area (click here for information on our research themes). Our first-rate facilities include extensive and well equipped laboratories and alarge pilot plant with excellent dairy, meat and bakery facilities, in addition to a unique pilot-scale brewery.

University College Cork

Founded in 1845, University College Cork is Ireland’s premier research university and is located in a beautiful Victorian campus renowned for its mature well-wooded grounds close to the centre of Cork, Ireland’s friendly second city. UCC is a progressive and dynamic university of over 14,500 students and is noted for its innovative and research-led curriculum taught by world-class academics. Each year, UCC welcomes over 2000 international students from more than 75 countries into its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. UCC has been named "Irish University of the Year" for two of the last three years.

Why should I do the MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science?

The MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science is a structured one-year taught postgraduate programme in Food Science for honours graduates of programmes such as:

Food Science, Nutritional Sciences, Food Business, Microbiology, Biological or Chemical Sciences…

that involves novel teaching methods, with emphases on project work and innovative forms of learning.

Great career opportunities. The Food Industry is the world's largest manufacturing industry and Irelands largest indigenous manufacturing industry. The Irish food industry is extensive, stable and largely Irish-owned. With a unique blend of scientific and technical skills, graduates of this MSc programme will be well qualified to work in many areas of the Irish and international food industry, including research and development, quality assurance and production management. Other career opportunities for graduates of this programme may include admission to PhD programmes in Food Science and some students with higher degrees in Food Science have transferred their skills to other sectors, particularly the pharmaceutical industry.

Don’t get left behind. Remember that nearly 40% of UCC graduates go on to 4th level education (post-graduate study) and that European universities are moving towards a common structure for courses under the Bologna process in which the different European higher education systems will meet at the masters degree. Indeed, in many European countries, the masters is the “standard” university degree.

Get a better job and earn more money. Statistics show that students who complete higher degrees earn more money and are much more likely to get a better job.

Don’t play “catch-up” when you’re older. As your career progresses, you may find that a higher degree is essential to secure that promotion. Now is the time to do the masters!

But most of all…! Do it for yourself! Cap off your university education with an MSc.
No matter what your choices, remember that your BSc degree is just a starting point!

Entry Requirements

Candidates for the MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science degree must normally have graduated by September of the year of entry
with honours BSc degree, or equivalent qualification, in a discipline with a significant element of laboratory science, with a minimum of second class honours Grade 2 or equivalent. However, candidates with equivalent academic qualifications may be accepted subject to the approval of Faculty.

Graduates from a wide range of disciplines are welcome to apply for admission to this programme, both from within UCC and from elsewhere in Ireland and abroad. Graduates from programmes in Food Science, Food Technology, Nutritional Sciences, Food Business, Microbiology or any discipline within Biological or Chemical Sciences are likely to be considered for admission.

Please feel free to contact the programme coordinator if you would like to discuss the entry requirements, particularly if your degree is from a university outside Ireland and you are unsure how your qualification compares with our entry requirements.

Candidates are encouraged to apply for this programme as early as possible and the closing date for applications is Sept 1, 2007. Information on the application process is available here. Application for Irish and EU students is now on-line while the International Education Office will process applications from students outside the EU. Please contact the programme coordinator if you experience any difficulties with your application or if you have any question about the process.

Programme

Candidates will take courses to the value of 90 credits. Modules will be chosen with the approval of the Programme Board depending on students’ background.

Students will take 45 credits as follows:

PG5001C Scientific Training for Enhanced Postgraduate Studies 5 credits

FS6101 Library Project in Food Science 10 credits

FS6102 Research Project 30 credits

Students commence work on their library and research projects in October for submission in April and June, respectively.

In conjunction with their research, students will undertake course to the value of 45 credits from the following:

FS6103 Novel Processing Technologies and Ingredients 5 credits

FS6104 Advances in Brewing and Beverage Science 5 credits

FS6105 Material Science for Food Systems 5 credits

FS6106 Advanced Topics in Dairy Biochemistry 5 credits

FS6107 Advances in the Science of Muscle Foods 5 credits

NT6101 Food and Biochemical Toxicology 5 credits

NT6102 Human Nutrition and Health 5 credits

NT6103 Functional Foods: New Frontiers for Food and Health 5 credits

FE6101 Food Business: Markets and Policy 5 credits

MB6114 Hygienic Production of Food 5 credits

Depending on background of the student, the Programme Board may decide to replace some of the above modules to a maximum of 20 credits with FS3602, FS3603, FS3605, FS3606, FS3607, FS3608, FS4606, FS4620, FS4621 or MB4611. This will allow flexibility for students who do not have a Food Science background. (Detailed information on all modules is available here.)

International Students

Fáilte, Welcome, 欢迎, Willkommen, Bienvenue, Benvenuto, Приветствовать, Mile Widziany, Välkommen, Tervetuloa, Tervetulemast

University College Cork welcomes ca. 2000 international students every year. From more than 75 countries worldwide, they follow a range of courses and programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Some come for a year or less as visiting students; others enroll as full-time students for the duration of our programmes. For detailed information on life as an overseas student in Cork, including immigration procedures, help with accommodation and estimates of the cost of living in Cork, please see our

International Education Office and Accommodation Office. Proficiency in English: Non-EU students whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate course was not taught through the medium of English will be required to obtain an IELTS score of 6.0 or higher.
The Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences in UCC has a long tradition welcoming overseas students and currently has students from Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, France, China, India, Latvia, Libya, Argentina, Switzerland, New Zealand and Finland visiting our laboratories or studying for higher degrees. Indeed, a high percentage of our graduate students are from outside Ireland so you will feel right at home very quickly!

Fees

Fees are charged for most postgraduate programmes in Irish universities. Click here for the most up-to-date information on fees. Please note that non-EU students will be required to submit official documentary evidence of financial support before admission to this programme. However, remember that an MSc will increase your earning potential and will pay for itself very quickly when you are in employment!

Further Information

Thank you for visiting this site. For further information on the MSc (Applied Science) in Food Science, please contact the Programme Coordinator:

Prof Paul McSweeney
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences,
University College, Cork, Ireland.
E-mail:

Disclaimer

This web site is intended only to give general information about this programme and nothing here supersedes the official UCC College Calendar which should be consulted by all prospective students.

www.cheesescience.net

Cheese Science

Introduction. Cheese is the generic name for a group of fermented milk-based food products produced worldwide in a wide range of flavours and forms. Although there is no reliable estimate of the number of cheese varieties produced throughout the world, well over 1000 named varieties are recognized. Cheese is the quintessential convenience food; indeed, it has been said that there is a cheese for every taste preference and a taste preference for every cheese. Cheese manufacture, which dates from 6000-7000 BC, is essentially a method for preserving the nutritive value of milk through fermentation, removal of moisture and addition of salt.

Cheese is the most diverse group of dairy products and is arguably the most academically interesting and scientifically challenging. Unlike many other foods, which are relatively biologically and physically stable, cheeses are biologically and biochemically dynamic and hence are unstable. Cheesemakers often say that their product is “alive”; although this is obviously literally incorrect, this feeling contains a grain of truth, since cheese is a bacterial ecosystem and changes considerably during maturation due to a series of biochemical transformations. If these changes are balanced, they lead to the production of a very large number of flavour compounds and thus the highly desirable aromas and flavours of different cheeses. It is fascinating that such a wide range of flavours can be produced from the basic ingredients of cheese which are milk, starter cultures, salt and often rennet. A wide range of scientific disciplines are applied to cheese: biochemistry, microbiology, enzymology, molecular genetics, flavour chemistry and rheology (the science of the flow and deformation of matter). Although cheesemaking is an ancient art, modern industrial cheese production relies heavily on the application of these branches of science to ensure a consistently high quality product. Cheesemaking is amongst the world’s largest uses of industrial enzymes, its fermentation is more complicated than many other industrial fermentations (e.g., in the pharmaceutical industry) and the maturation of cheese is biochemically very dynamic. Indeed, if cheese was invented today, it would be hailed as a triumph of biotechnology!

Classification of cheese. The many varieties of cheese may be classified into a few families depending on the way in which the milk is coagulated. The majority of cheeses are coagulated by rennet, where the milk is converted to a gel by the action of an enzyme. Rennet-coagulated cheeses include the majority of major international varieties (e.g., Cheddar, Gouda, Mozzarella, Swiss, Blue, Camembert). The milk for a second family of cheese varieties is coagulated by acidification. Acid-coagulated varieties, including Cottage cheese and Quark, differ from yogurt (which is essentially acid-gelled milk) by the fact that some moisture is removed in the form of whey whereas yogurt has nearly the same moisture content as milk.

Much cheese is now consumed in the form of processed cheese, e.g., on cheeseburgers. Processed cheese is produced by shredding and melting young natural cheese together with emulsifying salts into a smooth molten mass which is then cooled and moulded into the shape desired. Optional ingredients which may be added during the manufacture of processed cheese include milk powders, casein products, flavours, colours, preservatives and stabilizers. Much processed cheese is sold in the form of blocks or is moulded into large sheets which are then cut into ribbons, interleaved with film, stacked and cut to form convenient slices. Another commercial product is analogue (or imitation cheese). Cheese analogues are cheese-like products formulated from ingredients, usually a form of casein powder known as rennet casein and a source of fat (often butterfat or a vegetable oil); cheese analogues are used mainly as ingredients in consumer-ready meals.

Cheese manufacture. The production of most cheeses falls into two distinct phases: manufacture and ripening. The manufacture of fresh cheese curd generally takes from about five to twenty-four hours; most cheeses are then ripened (matured) to develop the flavour and texture characteristic of the variety.

Cheese manufacture is essentially a dehydration process during which the fat and casein in milk are concentrated between six to twelve-fold, depending on variety. The first operations in the manufacture of cheese curd are the selection and pre-treatment of milk. In industrial practice, milk is usually heated (pasteurised) to kill any disease-causing microorganisms which may be present although some cheese is still made from raw (unpasteurized) milk, usually on a small scale. The ratio of fat to protein in the milk is often adjusted to give the desired composition of the final cheese and, for some varieties colour may be added to the milk.

Cheese is a fermented food product in which the sugar in milk (lactose) is converted to lactic acid by the action of bacteria. The strains of lactic acid bacteria used to acidify milk are usually carefully selected and deliberately added to milk as a culture known as a starter (since it “starts” acid production). Fundamental to cheese manufacture is the removal of moisture from milk through its conversion to a gel followed by contraction of the gel in a process known as syneresis. The milk for some cheeses is gelled by acidification but most the milk for most varieties is coagulated by the enzymes in preparations known as rennets. The gel is cut or broken and the gel pieces contract expressing as whey much of the liquid that was trapped inside. The solid material which will become cheese is known as curd and at this stage of manufacture is suspended in the whey. Syneresis is encouraged by acidification and is often facilitated by heating (“cooking”, “scalding”) the curds/whey mixture. Eventually, the curds are separated from the whey; whey is an important and valuable by-product of cheese manufacture. During the manufacture of most cheeses, the drained curds are then transferred to moulds of a shape and size characteristic of the variety. The curds for high moisture cheeses fuse together under their own weight but those for low moisture varieties are usually pressed to form a continuous mass. However, in the case of Cheddar and related cheeses, curds are “cheddared” before moulding during which they become more acid. The acidified curds for pasta-filata cheeses such as Mozzarella are kneaded and stretched in hot water before moulding.

Salt is added during the manufacture of all cheeses as a preservative and flavouring. Most cheese varieties are salted by immersing the cheese in brine after moulding. However, the curds for Cheddar and related British varieties are cut (“milled”) after cheddaring into small pieces which are then salted using dry salt before being moulded and pressed. Blue cheeses are traditionally salted by rubbing dry salt to the surface of the cheese after it has been moulded.

Cheese ripening. Almost all acid-coagulated and a small amount of rennet-coagulated cheeses are consumed fresh, directly after manufacture. However, the majority of cheese is matured (ripened) for a period ranging from two weeks (e.g., Mozzarella) to two or more years (e.g., Parmigiano-Reggiano or extra-mature Cheddar). It is often difficult to differentiate between the bland flavours and rubbery textures of freshly-made cheeses and it is during ripening that the flavour and texture characteristic of the variety develop. However, the microbiological and biochemical changes which occur during ripening, and hence the flavour and aroma of the finished product, are largely pre-determined by the manufacturing process. Cheese ripening is characterized by a number of microbiological changes and many biochemical changes which are caused by enzymes from the rennet, the milk and from the microorganisms associated with the cheese.

The starter bacteria generally die off after manufacture but they continue to contribute to ripening since their cells burst open after death releasing their enzymes into the cheese. In most long ripened cheeses, wild non-starter lactic acid bacteria grow slowly during ripening and may eventually reach high numbers. However, very obvious microbiological changes occur in certain varieties. The distinctive eyes (holes) in Swiss cheese are caused by the growth of a secondary bacterial flora which converts the lactic acid produced by the starter bacteria to other products, including carbon dioxide gas, some of which is trapped in the cheese to form bubbles. Likewise, the ripening of Blue cheese is dominated by the growth of the mould, Penicillium roqueforti, which develops in fissures within the cheese, giving the blue-green veins typical of these varieties and contributing greatly to their pungent aroma. Another mould, Penicillium camemberti, develops as a felt on the surface of Camembert and Brie where it uses lactic acid, leading to major changes to the texture of these cheeses which often become almost liquid when over-ripe. The most complex microbiological changes occur on the surface of smear-ripened varieties such as Limburger, Tilsit and Münster, where yeasts grow initially and then a mixed bacterial flora develops giving these cheeses their red-orange colour and powerful aroma.

The biochemical changes which occur during ripening involve the conversion of lactic acid, citric acid, milkfat and protein to a very wide range of flavour compounds. Mature cheese contains many hundred flavour compounds and the unique characters of different varieties are caused not by unique chemical compounds but rather by the same compounds but at different levels and in uniquely different proportions. The metabolism of lactic acid is of most importance in Swiss cheese, where is leads to eye development, and in white mould cheeses such as Camembert and Brie, where it leads to softening of the cheese texture. Milk naturally contains a low level of citric acid, some of which is trapped in the curd on cheesemaking and is fermented during the ripening of Dutch-type (e.g., Edam and Gouda) and some other cheeses to flavour compounds and small amounts of carbon dioxide gas which cause the few small eyes typical of these cheeses.

Like all fats, milkfat is composed mainly of a type of molecule known as a triglyceride, which is made of three fatty acids linked to a backbone molecule of glycerol. However, unlike other fats, milkfat is rich in short chain fatty acids which, when liberated from triglycerides by enzyme action (“lipolysis”), are highly flavoured. Low levels of free fatty acids are desirable in most varieties but excessively high levels can cause rancidity. Lipolysis is particularly important in Blue cheeses and in some hard Italian varieties. In addition to their direct impact on flavour, fatty acids also act as precursors of other flavour compounds.

Like all proteins, the caseins which form the structure of cheese are chains of simpler molecules known as amino acids. Protein breakdown (“proteolysis”) is the most important event which occurs during the ripening of most varieties. The caseins are broken down initially by enzymes in the rennet and by the enzyme, plasmin, which occurs naturally in milk, to a range of large and intermediate-sized peptides which are degraded further by enzymes from microorganisms, ultimately to free amino acids. Hard cheeses such as Cheddar contain 200-300 peptides of various sizes produced from the caseins; some smaller fragments contribute to flavours such as bitterness. Free amino acids are precursors for many key flavour compounds which are produced by a very important and complex series of reactions.

Cheese ripening has been the object of considerable scientific research over recent decades. While the general pathways by which most varieties ripen are now known in some detail, it remains impossible to guarantee premium quality cheese; in the midst of science, there remains room for the art of cheesemaking.

CheeseScience.net

Further Information

MSc

Courses in Cheese Science

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