Characteristics of textural and sensory properties of Oštiepok cheese

Oštiepok is a traditional half-fat semi-hard cheese made in Slovakia. The basic raw material used to produce oštiepok cheese is ewe's milk, a mixture of ewe's and cow's milk or cow's milk. Oštiepok cheese is produced either directly at a small-scale mountainside sheep farm, using the traditional on-farm method of production, or at dairies, using the industrial method. Oštiepok cheese was produced as far back as the beginning of the 18th century. An industrial production of Oštiepok cheese using cow's milk were laid by the Galbavý family in Detva (Slovakia) in 1921. The cheese is originally made by cutting off fresh sweet cheese, which is pressed into a wooden, hand-cut and decorated round shape where it is left to stand. Subsequently, it is removed and immersed in warm salty water, left to stand there until the salt penetrates completely in. Then it is necessary that it pass slightly. In its salty water, the ostrich produces its traditional durability, its surface is slightly peeled, mostly yellowish. This cheese may or may not be steamed and may be smoked or unsmoked. Slovenský oštiepok is a protected trade name under the EU's protected geographical indication. A similar cheese is made in the Polish Tatra Mountains under the name Oscypek. The cheeses differ in ingredients' ratios, cheesemaking process and the characteristics of the final products. In this study we have characterized textural and sensory properties of the Oštiepok cheese produced in Slovakia made from ewe's milk, a mixture of ewe's and cow's milk and cow's milk.

Quality Assessment of Selected Dairy Products in Sri Lankan Market

The purpose of the study was to determine the quality of selected Sri Lankan-marketed dairy products. Four brands of full cream milk powder (FCMP) (imported A and B; local C and D) and three brands of pasteurized milk (PM) attributed to the alphabetical identifies E, F, and G were tested, with raw cow’s milk (CM) as control. Fat, protein, ash, carbohydrate, moisture, and water percentage, total solids (TS), titratable acidity (TA), pH, specific gravity (SG), arsenic content, and total coliform count (TCC) were assessed. The average fat and ash content per serving of milk (SOM) of FCMP was significantly lower than the PM and CM. Highest (p>0.05) protein content (7.58 g ± 1.05) was recorded for CM. Carbohydrate and pH were not significantly different in three types of milk products. FCMP had a significantly lower (p<0.05) TA of, 0.18 ± 0.02 than the PM, 0.20 ± 0.02. Specific gravity in Brands D (1.033 ± 0.00) and E (1.033 ± 0.00) was significantly higher (p>0.05) compared to the CM (1.030 ± 0.00). All the abovementioned parameters between imported and locally produced FCMP brands were not significantly different from each other. In imported FCMP, mean moisture % was significantly higher (p>0.05) than local brands; however, in each FCMP, brand mean moisture % was statistically non-significant. Total solids in PM was significantly lower (p<0.05) than the CM. Every tested sample was free of arsenic. However, all PM brands and B of FCMP were contaminated with coliform. Total coliform count in B and E agreed with the Sri Lankan standard level. Nutritional value in SOM of PM and FCMP was less than CM, while the lowest value was recorded in FCMP. It can be concluded that all brands of powdered milk possess the recommend suggested standards in terms of both physicochemical and microbiological qualities. Though the physicochemical characteristics in PM brands agree with the standard levels, microbial hygiene is poor where coliform contamination was very high in Brand E.

Quality and safety of raw cow’s milk in Slovakia in 2011

The quality and safety of raw cow’s milk is very important for dairy companies and consumers of milk products. Due to the methods of production, it is impossible to completely eliminate contamination of milk with microorganisms, therefore the microbial content of milk is a major feature in determining its quality. Other important factors to consider include somatic cells count, veterinary drug residues, milk composition and freezing point. Somatic cells represent the udder health and can be used for monitoring of subclinical mastitis. A high level of somatic cells can increase proteolysis in milk which affects technological processes. Veterinary drugs administered to cows may lead to residues in the milk which are harmful to humans. The content of fat, protein and solids-non-fat are the main indicators used by dairies for technological purposes. In this article we discuss the quality and safety of raw cow’s milk in Slovakia during 2011. We found that 73.53% of samples tested for somatic cell count, and 84.54% of samples tested for total bacterial count, met the European Union legislation limits. We found the largest decrease in fat and protein content was during the summer period and the largest increase was in the winter period. We found that 92.14 %, 98.7% and 91.38% of samples met the limit presented in STN 570529:1999 for fat content, protein content and freezing point respectively. The percentage of drug positive samples was 0.087%.