Influence of Packaging Systems on the Biochemical Characteristics and Volatile Compounds of Industrially Produced Turkish White Cheese*

Abstract

Full-fat Turkish white cheese was manufactured in an industrial scale and ripened for 90 days after packaging in polystyrene container with brine containing 12% salt or cryovac plastic material under vacuum. White cheese packaged with cryovac container had higher contents of total solids, milk fat, water-soluble nitrogen and lactic acid and lower contents of salt and ash than the cheese packaged in polystyrene container during ripening (P < 0.05). The ripening index and the counts of lactococci and lactobacilli were also higher with cryovac container (P < 0.05). With regard to volatile compounds, a total of 40 components were identified: alcohols (5), aldehydes (3), ketones (7), esters (4), volatile acids (10), hydrocarbons (8) and other compounds (3). Volatile acids were the main components of both Turkish white cheeses. The contents of hexanoic and butanoic acids, dominant acids of cheese in cryovac container, were significantly higher when compared to the cheese in polystyrene cup (P < 0.05).molds have been packaged in cryovac container without brine. The chemical composition of cheese on the contents of dry matter, fat, water-soluble nitrogen, salt, lactic acid and the counts of starter bacteria were influenced by packaging system. Ripening index and dominant volatile compounds of cheese were also affected by packaging in polystyrene container with brine containing 12% salt or cryovac plastic material under vacuum. 664 A.S. AKALIN and A.D. KARAMAN MATERIALS AND METHODS Cheese-Making ProcedureRaw whole milk (3.3% milk fat) of 2,000 L was pasteurized at 74C for 15 s by high-temperature short-time system and cooled to 33C. The milk was inoculated by a sachet of direct-to-vat single culture containing Lactobacillus casei ssp. casei and 0.5% reactivated Redi-set mixed culture containing Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis and L. lactis ssp. cremoris (Danisco Co., Langebrogade 1, Copenhagen, Denmark), and then supplemented with CaCl 2 solution (0.02% w/v). The inoculated milk (33C) was held for 15 min (until pH 6.30), and liquid calf rennet (Ecoren 200, Maysa, Istanbul, Turkey) was added at a level of 1.7 mL (strength 1:16,000) to 10 L cheese milk (sufficient to coagulate the milk within 50 min). Following coagulation, the curd was cut crossways in cubes of 1 cm 3 and allowed to rest for 30 min. Then, it was gently agitated for 15 min to facilitate whey expulsion and transferred into blocking machine. Following this procedure, the curds were molded in the polyethylene (PE) blocks (300 g) and the whey was moved through the conveyor. The cheeses in PE blocks were left in cooling room (+4) until the pH dropped to 4.75. Then, the cheese was immersed into a brine solution (15% brine NaCl, w/v, 15C) for 300 min and stored at 4 Ϯ 2C for approximately 500 min. Cheeses were extracted from PE blocks and then separated into two parts. One part was packaged in the cryovac (BK3550, Cryovac, Sealed Air Corporation, U.K.) container in vacuum and the other in polystyrene (900 mL, 102 ¥ 127 mm, Eminiş Ambalaj San. Tic. A. Ş . Kocaeli,...

Improving quality characteristics of reduced and low fat Turkish white cheeses using homogenized cream

“…Consequently, an increased ripening index made all the cheese types softer. Similar findings for hardness during a 90-day maturation were obtained for fatty cheeses (Akalın & Karaman, 2011), low-fat cheeses (Kavas, Oysun, Kinik, & Uysal, 2004), and cheeses made with homogenized cream (Nair et al, 2000;Poduval & Mistry, 1999) and milk (Tunick et al, 1993).…”

“…As shown in Table 2, ripening time was a major factor in the total amount of FFAs and affected lipolysis both linearly and quadratically. Similarly, the strong positive affect of ripening time on lipolysis is well known and has been confirmed by other researchers (Akalın & Karaman, 2011;Alizadeh, Hamedi, & Khosrowshahi, 2006;Nair et al, 2000).…”

“…When cheese is in brine, salt moves osmotically into the cheese, while water does the reverse. Even after the cheese blocks are out of the brine and are ripening, this equilibration continues and salt content continues to increase (Akalın & Karaman, 2011;Cakmakci & Kurt, 1993;Goncu & Alpkent, 2005;Hayaloglu, Guven, & Fox, 2002;Madadlou et al, 2007).…”

“…Not only because of the increased whey loss but high NaCl concentrations inhibit proteolysis (Akalın & Karaman, 2011), resulting in higher WSN concentrations. The ripening index paralleled the fall in WSN concentrations in the treatment groups.…”

“…In almost all parts of Turkey it is produced from raw and heat-treated, unhomogenized ewes' or cows' milk, or a blend of the two (Akın, Aydemir, Kocak, & Yildiz, 2003). It is a soft cheese with a salty and acidic taste; typically it has 20e25% milk fat and is brineripened (4e5 C) for three months (Akalın & Karaman, 2011). According to Turkish Food Standards (TS, 2006), white cheese is classified based on the lowest fat content in the dry matter, therefore the full-fat cheese is 45% fat, reduced fat or regular fat is 30%, half-fat is 20% and low-fat is less than 20% fat.…”