A ripening and storage study of soft goat cheese with Penicillium candidum on the surface

Abstract

The present study analyzed physico-chemical characteristics, proteolysis, and lipolysis over a 14-day ripening period and a 14-day storage period in two batches of industrially produced goat cheese with Penicillium candidum on the surface. After the 28 days the pH inside the cheese was considerably lower than that on the surface, due to the activity of the moulds. At the end of the study the water-soluble nitrogen was 16% of the total nitrogen, and 84% of the water-soluble nitrogen was non-protein nitrogen. Degradation of α s and β-caseins was low, but at the end of the storage period a series of bands, chiefly degradation products of β-casein, was observed in the γ-casein region; weak bands with higher electrophoretic mobility than that of α s-casein were also found. Electrophoretic analysis of the water-soluble protein fraction showed no variation. No change in the triglyceride fatty acid composition was observed during the study period. The total free fatty acid content increased from 9 881 to 12 137 ppm.