Determination of the effects of spices on the ripening of traditional Circassian cheese

Abstract

Cheese has been a global dairy product and it is consumed almost all over the world. Given that the traditional cheese have come forward, gained importance and even some of the traditional cheeses have become popular worldwide such as Mozzarella, Edam, Brie, and Roquefort. It has been reported that around 200 types of cheeses are produced in Turkey. Circassian (Cerkez) cheese is also one of the traditional cheeses have come to known more recently. The main cheese production steps include: (i) coagulation of milk, including cow, sheep, goat and buffalo; (ii) removal of whey from the curd; and (iii) scalding, fermentation, and/or salting of the curd depending on the type of cheese produced. Finally, cheese can be consumed either fresh, ripened, or smoked (Gul et al., 2015; Guneser & Yuceer, 2011). Development of novel cheese varieties is necessary to increase the cheese consumption not only in our country, but also globally, and