## 3 Results and Discussion
### Colour and Texture Properties  
All colour parameters decreased (\(p<0.05\)) at 5.0-kGy treatment dosage, except the chroma values (Table 2). Lower lightness (L*) values can be present because of the browning reactions that may occur during irradiation due to lipid oxidation or Maillard reaction [18]. Similar to this study, [PERSON] et al. [17] also reported a decrease in yellowness for cheddar cheese after gamma irradiation. The redness (\(a^{\star}\)) values decreased (\(p<0.05\)) in agreement with what was observed by [PERSON] et al. [34] for sliced and pizza cheeses. Conversely, [PERSON] et al. [18] have reported an increase in the \(a^{\star}\) values for Feta cheese. These differences across studies can probably be related to fat and moisture content of the different cheese varieties. The decrease in yellowness and red appearance can be due to the degradation of riboflavin and \(\beta\)-carotene by irradiation in the cheese structure [18]. Chroma (C) values that quantify the saturation or colour intensity increased (\(p<0.05\)) at the 5.0-kGy irradiation treatment dosage, while the hue angle (H\({}^{\circ}\)) decreased. The increase in C indicates that the purity of colours was greater at 5.0 kGy. The H\({}^{\circ}\) values for both irradiated and nonirradiated cheese samples were closer to 0\({}^{\circ}\), which represents a more intense red colour. Similar to this study, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [35] also reported a linear correlation between the L* and H\({}^{\circ}\) values in irradiated mushroom samples. No differences (\(p>0.05\)) were noted for all the colour parameters between the 250 and 500-g samples at a 5.0-kGy dosage (Table 2). Cheese cohesiveness and springiness decreased (\(p<0.05\)) at the 5.0-kGy irradiation treatment (Table 3). These results could be due to the effect of the treatment on the cheese surface, thus the aggregation of the proteins causing changes in the rheological behaviour [36]. The reduction in the moisture content at 5.0 kGy could have affected both the hardness and chewiness values (Table 3). The cheese hardness increases as the moisture content decreases, consequently affecting the springiness and chewiness values [24; 37]. Additionally, the denaturation of milk proteins and enzymes may occur with irradiation, thereby also bringing about textural changes [38]. The 250-g samples had higher (\(p<0.05\)) hardness values at 5.0 kGy compared to the 500 g (Table 3). On the other hand, the springiness values were noted to be higher in the 250-g samples corresponding to changes in the hardness. This suggests that the treatment had more effect on the texture properties of smaller samples (250 g) than 500 g. In contrast, [PERSON] et al. [18] reported no irradiation effects on Feta cheese texture; this could be due to the differences in the chemical compositions and varieties of cheees examined. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Treatment**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{_p-Values_} \\ \multirow{2}{*}{**Property**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Dosage (D)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Weight (W)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{_p-Values_} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **0.0 kGy** & **5.0 kGy** & **250 g** & **500 g** & **D** & **W** & **D \(\times\) W** \\ \hline c & L* & 75.7 \(\pm\) 2.50 & 73.1 \(\pm\) 2.49 & 74.2 \(\pm\) 2.49 & 74.6 \(\pm\) 2.49 & 0.0005 & 0.6042 & 0.6042 \\ d & \(a^{\star}\) & 4.36 \(\pm\) 0.72 & 1.42 \(\pm\) 0.72 & 2.84 \(\pm\) 0.72 & 2.94 \(\pm\) 0.72 & 0.0001 & 0.5587 & 0.5587 \\ e & \(b^{\star}\) & 23.8 \(\pm\) 3.03 & 21.7 \(\pm\) 3.03 & 22.8 \(\pm\) 3.03 & 22.8 \(\pm\) 3.03 & 0.0001 & 0.9860 & 0.9860 \\ Chroma & 79.9 \(\pm\) 1.24 & 87.0 \(\pm\) 1.26 & 83.7 \(\pm\) 1.25 & 83.2 \(\pm\) 1.24 & 0.0001 & 0.3487 & 0.3487 \\ Hue angle (c) & 24.3 \(\pm\) 3.06 & 21.8 \(\pm\) 3.06 & 23.0 \(\pm\) 3.06 & 23.0 \(\pm\) 3.06 & 0.0001 & 0.9997 & 0.9997 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* LSM = Least square means; b SEM = standard error of the means; c L* lightness, d \(a^{\star}\) redness and e \(b^{\star}\) yellowness; \(p<0.05\).  
\end{table}