abstract
In attempts to somehow standardize Portuguese traditional cheeses, a better understanding of the physicochemical changes that take place during ripening is mandatory especially in what pertains to the role played by their main vectors (viz, milk, rennet and microflora). Hence, model cheeses were designed and experimentally manufactured - using three different milk sources, inoculated with well-defined starter cultures - comprising one Lactococcus and one Lactobacillus sp. (or a mixture of both), and coagulated with rennet from either animal or plant origin; such a combination of parameters makes this work a meaningful extension of previous work with related cheese matrices, especially because wild strains were employed. Assessment over a 60 d-period of the gross chemical composition, as well as of microbiological features, rheological properties and sensory textural descriptors allowed one to establish correlations between viscoelastic properties and organoleptic attributes. The importance of pH, fat, protein and water content upon texture evolution, coupled with the effect of animal versus plant rennet upon G' and G '', and the contribution of Lactococcus lactis to odour development were experimentally elucidated. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
keywords
CHEDDAR CHEESE; FAT; GELS; PASTEURIZATION; TEMPERATURE; PROTEOLYSIS; COAGULANTS; PROFILES; CHYMOSIN; TEXTURE
subject category
Food Science & Technology
authors
Pereira, CI; Franco, MI; Gomes, AMP; Malcata, FX
Groups
acknowledgements
Financial support for authors C. I. P. and M. I. F. - provided via PhD fellowships (refs. SFRH/BD/18258/2004 and SFRH/BD/30831/2006, respectively), both issued under program POCI 2010, administered by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal) and supervised by author F. X. M., is hereby gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also indebted to Zita Martins and Oscar Ramos for topical technical assistance.