Technological optimisation of Picante cheese using microbiological, chemical and physical criteria

Current Trends of Enterococci in Dairy Products: A Comprehensive Review of Their Multiple Roles

As a genus that has evolved for resistance against adverse environmental factors and that readily exchanges genetic elements, enterococci are well adapted to the cheese environment and may reach high numbers in artisanal cheeses. Their metabolites impact cheese flavor, texture, and rheological properties, thus contributing to the development of its typical sensorial properties. Due to their antimicrobial activity, enterococci modulate the cheese microbiota, stimulate autolysis of other lactic acid bacteria (LAB), control pathogens and deterioration microorganisms, and may offer beneficial effects to the health of their hosts. They could in principle be employed as adjunct/protective/probiotic cultures; however, due to their propensity to acquire genetic determinants of virulence and antibiotic resistance, together with the opportunistic character of some of its members, this genus does not possess Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) status. It is, however, noteworthy that some putative virulence factors described in foodborne enterococci may simply reflect adaptation to the food environment and to the human host as commensal. Further research is needed to help distinguish friend from foe among enterococci, eventually enabling exploitation of the beneficial aspects of specific cheese-associated strains. This review aims at discussing both beneficial and deleterious roles played by enterococci in artisanal cheeses, while highlighting the need for further research on such a remarkably hardy genus.

The Effect of Mixing Milk of Different Species on Chemical, Physicochemical, and Sensory Features of Cheeses: A Review

The yield and quality of cheese are associated with the composition, physicochemical, sensory, rheological, and microbiological properties of milk and with the technology applied to the milk before and/or during cheese processing. This review describes the most important research on cheeses obtained from processing mixtures of different milk species and discusses the effect of milk mixtures (i.e., species and mixture ratios) on composition, physicochemical, sensory, rheological, and microbiological properties of cheeses. More specifically, the present review paper will gather and focus only on studies that have provided a clear comparison between cheeses produced from a mixture of two milk species to cheeses produced from only one species.

Review: Technological and organoleptic issues pertaining to cheeses with denomination of origin manufactured in the Iberian Peninsula from ovine and caprine milks Revisión: Aspectos tecnológicos y sensoriales de quesos con denominación de origen elaborados en la Península Ibérica con leche de oveja y de cabra

A few European countries have created Appélations d'Origine Protegée (AOP) in order to support legal protection and hence promote enforcement of high-quality standards of selected food products. This paper comprehensively reviews and updates fundamental and applied aspects encompassing tech nological and organoleptic characteristics of AOP traditional cheeses manufactured in the Iberian Peninsula, from ovine and/or caprine milks. Those cheeses from Portugal and Spain can be divided into four distinctive groups, based on milk source and rennet type: ( i) Azeitão, Castelo Branco, Évora, Nisa, Serpa, Serra da Estrela and La Serena cheeses, manufactured with raw ovine milk and coagulated via plant rennet; ( ii) Terrincho, Idiazábal, Manchego, Roncal and Zamorano cheeses, elaborated with raw ovine milk and coagulated via animal rennet; ( iii) Cabra Transmontano and Majorero cheeses, manufac tured with raw caprine milk and coagulated via animal rennet; and ( iv) Amarelo da Beira Baixa, Picante da Beira Baixa and Rabaçal cheeses, manufactured with mixtures of raw ovine and caprine milks and coagulated via animal rennet. Considerable differences between Portuguese and Spanish AOP cheeses exist; the former are, in general, characterized by softer consistencies and similarities to one another in terms of manufacturing protocols (usually encompassing coagulation of plain raw milk followed by slow draining of the curd), whereas the latter are, in general, larger and firmer.

Sensory Profile of Ewe’s Milk Cheeses

Sensory profiles for several ewe’s milk cheeses were developed and main sensory differences evaluated using a specifically designed methodology. It was stated that the existence of several clearly defined groups of sensory terms were negatively correlated. One group consisted of the attributes odor intensity, sharp odor, brine odor, rennet flavor, and butyric acid flavor. The other group consisted of milky odor, toasty odor, buttery odor and flavor, nutty flavor, and sweet flavor. Results pointed out that every descriptor except surface roughness showed a significant difference ( p< 0.01) among the samples. Main sensory differences were basically attributable to different manufacturing technologies as well as different ripening periods.

Principal component analysis of proteolytic profiles as markers of authenticity of PDO cheeses

The casein fraction of 13 Portuguese PDO cheeses were analysed using Urea-PAGE and reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and then subjected to chemometric evaluation. The chemometric techniques of cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used for the classification studies. Peptide mapping using Urea-PAGE followed by CA revealed two major clusters according to the similarity of the proteolytic profile of the cheeses. PCA results were in accordance with the grouping performed using CA. CA of RP-HPLC results of the matured cheeses revealed the presence of one major cluster comprising samples manufactured with only ovine milk or milk admixtures. When the results of CA technique were compared with the two PCA approaches performed, it was found that the grouping of the samples was similar. Both approaches, revealed the potential of proteolytic profiles (which is an essential aspect of cheese maturation) as markers of authenticity of PDO cheeses in terms of ripening time and milk admixtures not mentioned on the label.