Acidification process and properties of soft cheese made from cow milk using different starter cultures

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in Haramaya University Dairy Technology Laboratory to evaluate the effect of starter cultures on physicochemical, textures and consumer preference of soft cheese made from cow milk. Cow milk inoculated with cultures XPL-2 and CHN-22 resulted in slower acidification time than cow milk inoculated using cultures STI-12, RST-743 and R-707. Soft Cheese (SC) made using culture R-707 gave lower pH (4.52) and higher titratable acidity (1.04%). Higher cheese yield (18.08%), fat (18.48%), protein (16.18%), total solids (40.53%) and ash (2.73%) were obtained from cow milk SC made using culture STI-12. Instrumental analysis showed that SC of higher firmness (5.50 N) and brittleness (4.56) were obtained from cheese made using culture R-707, whereas higher (-0.18 N) adhesiveness was recorded from using culture XPL-2. Except color and appearance, consumer preference of taste, aroma and over all acceptance were significantly (P<0.05) affected by inoculation of cultures. In a conclusion, inoculations of commercial starter cultures influence the physicochemical, texture and consumer preference test of cow milk SC.