The viability theory to control food processes
L'utilisation de la théorie de la viabilité pour contrôler les procédés alimentaires
Résumé
The viability theory developed by Aubin (1991) has been adapted to calculate the optimal monitoring of cheese ripening process. This method was used efficiently in ecology or in finance but never in food process. The aim was to find the controls allowing to reach a compromise between the quality of the ripened cheeses and the production costs. A viability kernel and the costs simulations of the viable trajectories were computed. Then, the optimal ripening trajectories were validated during pilot trials. The results were finally compared to those obtained for cheeses ripened at 92% of relative humidity and 12°C of temperature, the conditions usually applied in dairy industries for Camembert ripening.