Influence of curd particles drying temperature on the composition of curd made of milk in which co aggregates were formed

Abstract

The influence of different drying temperatures of curd particles in order to obtain curd particles with chemical composition characteristic for Dutch-type semi-hard cheeses was investigated. The experiments were performed with heat-treated milk at 87?C for 10 minutes to induce chemical interaction between casein and serum proteins and to form the co-called co aggregates. The curd particles were dried at 42?C and 45?C for 60 minutes and two types of curd, named curd A and curd B were formed afterwards. The results of the experiments showed that the used temperatures had no significant influence on chemical composition of the curd. The average total solids of curd A was 49.09%, moisture in fat free basis (MFFB) 68.78% protein content 22.23%, lactose content 1.55%, ash 1.98%, titratable acidity 71.700T and pH 6.22. On the other side, the average values for curd B were 49.40%, 68.58%, 22.74%, 1.47%, 1.94%, 75.920T and 6.07, respectively. The use of different drying temperatures, as well as the other treatments (pressing, salting and ripening) provide conditions for semihard cheese producing, with the chemical composition similar to the Dutch-type semihard cheese prepared according to the traditional method.