Comparative Analysis of Composition, Texture, and Sensory Attributes of Commercial Forms of Plant-Based Cheese Analogue Products Available on the Irish Market

The increasing demand for plant-based foods has led to significant growth in the availability, at retail level, of plant-based cheese analogue products. This study compares composition, structure, rheology, and sensory characteristics of block- and slice-style plant-based cheeses with those of traditional dairy and processed cheeses. A total of 16 cheese products were selected from Irish retail outlets, comprising five block-style plant-based analogues, seven slice-style analogues, two Cheddar samples, and two processed cheese samples. Results showed that plant-based cheese analogues had significantly lower protein content (0.1–1.7%) than Cheddar (25%) and processed cheese (12.9-18.2%), and lacked a continuous protein matrix, being instead stabilized largely by solid fats, starch and hydrocolloids. While Cheddar cheese exhibited highest hardness, some plant-based cheeses achieved comparable hardness using texturizing agents, but still demonstrated lower tan δmax values, indicating inferior melting behaviour. Differential scanning calorimetry thermograms showed a consistent single peak at ~20°C across most plant-based variants, unlike the dual-phase melting transitions observed in dairy cheeses. Most significantly, sensory evaluation indicated that cheese analogues were disliked in terms of liking of appearance, texture, aroma, overall acceptability, especially flavour attributes. These results highlighted that considerable development is required to improve cheese analogues in terms of composition and functionality, especially in mimicking the flavour and other sensory attributes of conventional dairy-based cheeses.