Formation of cheese pattern when using monospecies cultures

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The article presents the results of a study of the influence of monospecies gas-aroma-forming cultures Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis (L. diacetylactis) and Leuconostoc subsp. on the peculiarities of pattern formation in cheeses with a low second heating temperature molded from a layer. The studied cultures were used at a dose of 0.6% of the total milk volume as as single starter microflora in the model cheeses (1-M and 2-M) and additional microflora along with the main lactococcal microflora (Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis; Lactococcus cremoris) in the control cheeses (1-K and 2-K). The model and control cheeses were subjected to microbiological tests (total number of lactic acid microorganisms, number of L. diacetylactis and Leuconostoc subsp.), physicochemical (mass fraction of moisture, pH), biochemical (mass fraction of lactose) and organoleptic studies after pressing and during ripening at the age of 15, 30, 45, 60 days. It has been established that the use of a culture of citrate-fermenting lactococci L. diacetylactis ensures a stable lactic acid fermentation process during the production and ripening of the model and control cheeses, the formation of an elastic consistency and the desired pattern with eyes of a regular round shape. The use of the hetero-fermentative culture Leuconostoc subsp., as single starter microflora, does not guarantee the required level of lactic acid fermentation during cheese production and leads to an increase in the moisture content of the cheese mass after pressing and overacidification of the cheese in the first stages of ripening, which together contributes to the formation of an overly plastic consistency and an overdeveloped pattern in the form of cracks. The use of Leuconostoc subsp. as a gas-aroma-forming component of a traditional starter culture for semi-hard cheeses, also consisting of mesophilic lactococci Lc. lactis subsp. lactis and Lc. cremoris, causes the development of a nest-like pattern, which does not fully ensure the formation of the desired pattern with regular rounded eyes.