Microbial and Chemical Parameters of Traditional Siahmazgi Cheese Produced in Zanjan Province, Iran

Abstract

T he traditional dairy products, especially cheese, have an important place in Iranian food culture. The amount of cheese production in the United States is 4.8 to 8.6 million tons in Western Europe (Ledenbach & Marshall, 2009). Traditional cheese has got great interest by consumer for its nutritional quality among other cheeses (Blažić et al., 2017) as a result because of the consumers demand for this type of product, it's necessary to provide hygiene certificate for them. Since the shelf-life spam for dairy products such as cheese is depend on their micro floral contamination in the product. Siahmazgi cheese is one of the traditional cheeses in Iran, which is producing from cow's milk with a small amount of common starter, which means that the ripening process is carried out mostly by the natural flora of the milk during the storage for a few months (Fontán et al., 2001).

Investigating and Comparing the Physicochemical, Microbial and Sensory Characteristics of Traditional and Pasteurized Siahmazgi Cheese

“…The salt increased during process of making cheese, in traditional and pasteurized cheeses, which are caused by reducing solids content and increasing dry matter of cheese, the results were in line with the foundings of Mirza Alizadeh et al, [6], Farahani et al, [10], Mortazavi et al, [9], Cetinkaya and Soyutemiz [12], and Psoni [13].…”

“…In none of the samples of traditional and pasteurized Siahmazgi cheeses tested, Salmonella was found. Mirza Alizadeh et al, [6] in his survey mentioned that no salmonella was observed in traditional Siahmazgi samples. The findings of the current study were in line with the study conducted by Dimitrovska et al, [18] in the Republic of Macedonia and Loghmanifar et al, [14], in Iran.…”

“…The samples of pasteurized cheese were lacking coliform, but all traditional Siahmazgi cheeses showed a general form of infection. Mirza Alizadeh et al, [6], stated that the use of raw milk is considered the most important reason for the contamination of traditional cheeses. Loghmanifar et al, [14], mentioned that the reason for the intense contamination of traditional Siahmazgi was used to use raw milk, non-use of lactic culture and maintenance of cheese in conditions of poor temperature.…”

“…The results of the study showed that the pasteurized cheese had no evidence of infection by Staphylococcus aureus, while the traditional cheeses were infected up to 80%. Mirza Alizadeh et al, [6], evaluated the traditional cheese samples in Zanjan province, it was found that reducing pH to 4.2 caused the destruction of bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, in these cheeses. Partovi [7] also, mentioned a high rate of infection with Staphylococcus aureus in traditional Siahmazgi cheeses due to the use of raw milk and failure to comply with safety standards.…”

“…Siahmazgi cheese, a traditional cheese in Guilan province, is produced in the Siahmazgi County, in the past; the cheese was produced from sheep's milk, but today is mainly produced in Zanjan province and from cow's milk. The operation of the ripening of the Siahmazgi cheeses like other traditional cheeses prepared from raw milk is done by milk bacteria during the storage time of cheese [6]. Cheese in terms of fat percentage is divided into high fat, fat, semi-fat, low-fat and free fat.…”