TITLE:
Production of Low Fat Cheddar Cheese Made Using Exopolysaccharide-Producing Cultures and Selected Ripening Cultures
AUTHORS:
Morsi El Soda
KEYWORDS:
Exopolydaccharide, Ripening Culture, Low Fat Cheddar
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.4 No.14,
October
23,
2014
ABSTRACT: Low fat cheeses
often suffer from undesirable texture and flavor. The objective of this study
is to improve the yield, texture, flavor and quality of low fat Cheddar cheese
during ripening using exopolysaccharide-producing lactobacilli and ripening
cultures. The article represents one of the first attempts to tackle both
texture and flavor at the same time. The study reveals the effect of aging on
the texture and flavor of low fat Cheddar cheese over a ripening period of six
months. The cheese manufactured with a modified protocol using EPS-producing
cultures and ripening cultures showed higher
values for moisture content (45%) and yield (9.4%) when compared to cheese manufactured
with the conventional procedure and without the addition of EPS-producing cultures and ripening cultures (37.7%) and (4.9%)
respectively. The obtained results indicated a 70% decrease in the fat
content of the cheese. Texture profile analysis (TPA) indicated that the hardness,
the cohesiveness, the springiness, the gumminess and the chewiness of the
cheeses made using the EPS-producing cultures decreased with aging. The texture
of the ripened low fat cheese made using EPS-producing cultures was described
as chewy, springy, cohesive and smooth. The use of the ripening cultures
resulted in the elimination of the bitter flavor defect which is a common
problem in low fat Cheddar.