pH spatial distribution model during ripening of Camembert cheese

During ripening of Camembert cheese, a soft cheese, the pH values continually change, which impacts the growth of Listeria monocytogenes. In this study, a pH distribution model suitable for the ripening phase of Camembert cheese was developed and verified. An experimental trend-based statistical model for pH using normalized time and normalized pH as variables was developed to determine the evolution of pH. The pH model showed good agreement with the mean pH measured values, i.e., the pH model was able to capture the magnitudes and trends sufficiently. The R² values for top surface, center, inner-outer side surface, and bottom surface regions' mean measured and pH model-predicted values were 0.97, 0.95, 0.99, and 0.99, respectively.