Reduction in the Brining Time in Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Production Minimally Affects Proteolysis, with No Effect on Sensory Properties

Abstract

Brine soaking is one of the most important steps in the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, since it determines the amount of salt in the final product. Reduction in salt in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese might be important for improving its nutritional profile, but it could affect the manufacturing processes by altering proteolysis and consequently the product quality. In this study, for the first time, salt reduction was explored at the industrial level on real cheese samples manufactured in a local dairy. In particular, 20 wheels were produced with conventional (18 days, 10 wheels) and shorter (12 days, 10 wheels) brining steps. In every group, wheels were studied at two different ripening times, 15 and 30 months. A shorter brining time resulted in an average 12% decrease in salt content. A full characterization of free amino acids and peptides was performed by LC-MS on all samples. Free amino acids and peptides, as expected, increased with ripening, due to proteolysis, with samples having low salt content showing a slightly faster increase when compared to standard ones, hinting to a slightly accelerated proteolytic process. Nonetheless, low-salt and conventional cheeses shared similar sensory profiles at both ripening times.

Impact of a Shorter Brine Soaking Time on Nutrient Bioaccessibility and Peptide Formation in 30-Months-Ripened Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

“…The presence of these peptides has been reported in various fermented milk products, the antihypertensive effect of which has been proved by various in vitro and in vivo (animal and human trials) experiments [ 33 ]. Considering that in a previous study we evidenced that the sensory profiles were remarkably similar in C- and Hypo-PRC, without any off-flavor development [ 10 ], our results confirmed that reduction of salt content in ripened PRC represents a promising strategy to reduce Na intake, potentially protecting consumers’ health. In this light, the evaluation of the actual ACE-inhibitory activity of digested C- and Hypo-PRC deserves further studies in biological systems.…”

“…All peptides detected in not digested PRC were almost completely degraded during gastric digestion, and new bioactive sequences were released. In digested samples, most identified sequences derived from the hydrolysis of high molecular weight peptides already identified in undigested cheese [ 10 ] and from the cleavage of intact α- and β-casein and whey proteins. At the end of gastric digestion, a total of 10 bioactive peptides originated from β-casein, αS1-casein, and αS2-casein, confirming the high affinity of pepsin for these proteins [ 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Average salt content was 2.32 ± 0.06% dry matter (DM) and 1.90 ± 0.20% DM in C-PRC and short brine soaking time Hypo-PRC, respectively ( p = 0.0253). A detailed description of PRC production and proximate analysis of C-PRC and Hypo-PRC is reported in a previous work [ 10 ].…”

“…PRC contains high-value nutritional proteins that are also functionally and biologically attractive, and their hydrolysates formed during ripening are supposed to be sources of bioactive peptides [ 8 , 9 ]. Recently, we investigated the impact of reducing the brining time in salt solution on PRC sensory properties and peptide content [ 10 ], but information is still lacking about possible modification of the bioaccessibility of protein and fatty acids, and on the release of biologically active peptides during digestion. Processing can deeply modify both nutrient content and bioaccessibility, i.e., the quantity of a compound that is released from the food matrix in the gastrointestinal tract, becoming available for intestinal absorption [ 11 ].…”

Changes in proteolysis and volatile fraction of nitrite‐free Italian‐type salami modified in formulation and processing

“…(2021). Then, UPLC‐MS analyses were performed by applying all the instrumental parameters described in a previous study (Loffi et al ., 2021).…”