Influence of Calcium and Phosphorus, Lactose, and Salt-to-Moisture Ratio on Cheddar Cheese Quality: Changes in Residual Sugars and Water-Soluble Organic Acids During Ripening

Abstract

Cheddar cheese ripening involves the conversion of lactose to glucose and galactose or galactose-6-phosphate by starter and nonstarter lactic acid bacteria. Under ideal conditions (i.e., where bacteria grow under no stress of pH, water activity, and salt), these sugars are mainly converted to lactic acid. However, during ripening of cheese, survival and growth of bacteria occurs under the stressed condition of low pH, low water activity, and high salt content. This forces bacteria to use alternate biochemical pathways resulting in production of other organic acids. The objective of this study was to determine if the level and type of organic acids produced during ripening was influenced by calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P), residual lactose, and salt-to-moisture ratio (S/M) of cheese. Eight cheeses with 2 levels of Ca and P (0.67 and 0.47% vs. 0.53 and 0.39%, respectively), lactose at pressing (2.4 vs. 0.78%), and S/M (6.4 vs. 4.8%) were manufactured. The cheeses were analyzed for organic acids (citric, orotic, pyruvic, lactic, formic, uric, acetic, propanoic, and butyric acids) and residual sugars (lactose, galactose) during 48 wk of ripening using an HPLC-based method. Different factors influenced changes in concentration of residual sugars and organic acids during ripening and are discussed in detail. Our results indicated that the largest decrease in lactose and the largest increase in lactic acid occurred between salting and d 1 of ripening. It was interesting to observe that although the lactose content in cheese was influenced by several factors (Ca and P, residual lactose, and S/M), the concentration of lactic acid was influenced only by S/M. More lactic acid was produced in low S/M treatments compared with high S/M treatments. Although surprising for Cheddar cheese, a substantial amount (0.2 to 0.4%) of galactose was observed throughout ripening in all treatments. Minor changes in the levels of citric, uric, butyric, and propanoic acids were observed during early ripening, whereas during later ripening, a substantial increase was observed. A gradual decrease in orotic acid and a gradual increase in pyruvic acid content of the cheeses were observed during 12 mo of ripening. In contrast, acetic acid did not show a particular trend, indicating its role as an intermediate in a biochemical pathway, rather than a final product.

Influence of processing and ripening parameters on starter, non-starter and propionic acid bacteria and on the ripening characteristics of semi-hard cheeses

“…Butyrate levels (w100-700 mg kg À1 at 182 d) were similar to those reported for Emmental (700 mg kg À1 , Ji, Alvarez, & Harper, 2004; 265 mg kg À1 , Lawlor et al, 2002;150 mg kg À1 , Frö hlichWyder & Bachmann, 2004) and were intermediate between those reported for Cheddar by Marsili (1985) and St-Gelais et al (1991) and Upreti et al (2006) (46, 1000-2600, 1500-3000 mg kg À1 , respectively).…”

“…Propionate levels in the MST and SC cheeses ripened at 12 C and MSC cheeses ripened at 9 C (1400-2400 mg kg À1 ) were greater than those reported for Cheddar by St-Gelais et al (1991) and McGregor and White (1990) (120-750 and w1000 mg kg À1 , respectively), similar to those reported by Upreti et al (2006) (600-1600 mg kg À1 ) and lower than those by Marsili (1985) (3200 mg kg À1 ).…”

“…Acetate levels reported in Cheddar vary widely from 50 to 2443 mg kg À1 (Marsili, 1985;McGregor & White, 1990;St-Gelais, Doyon, Rolland, & Goulet, 1991;Upreti, McKay, & Metzger, 2006).…”

Biochemical study of industrially produced Arzúa-Ulloa semi-soft cows’ milk cheese: Effects of storage under vacuum and modified atmospheres with high-nitrogen contents

“…Moreover, butyric acid may be produced from fats or be the result of proteolysis and subsequent deamination of casein (Califano & Bevilacqua, 2000) and may also be transformed on demethylation to propionic and formic acids. Increases in butyric and propionic acids have been reported during ripening of other cows' milk cheeses (Akalín et al, 2002;Bevilacqua & Califano, 1989;Garabal et al, 2010;Upreti, McKay, & Metzger, 2006). Lower concentrations of these acids have been associated with a decrease in the degree of lipolysis in MAP and vacuum packaged cheeses (Dermiki et al, 2008;Garabal et al, 2010;Robertson, 1993).…”

“…On the contrary, pyruvic and acetic acids were detected in significantly higher amounts in the MAP cheeses (Table 2). Citric and pyruvic acids are intermediary metabolites and generally show irregular changes during cheese ripening (Akalín et al, 2002;Upreti et al, 2006). Citrate can be used as a substrate by the starter lactococci to produce pyruvic and acetic acids (Adda et al, 1982).…”