Microscopy of a Goatskin Bag Cheese “Bouhezza”

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) were used to visualize changes in the microstructure of a goatskin bag cheese “Bouhezza” during manufacturing and ripening. The exceptional cheesemaking process is based on the successive addition of salted fermented milk “Lben” in the goatskin bag for few weeks and then adding raw milk at the end of ripening. The SEM observation shows a proteinic aggregates organised in an open space matrix in which lipids and whey are entrapped in the proteinic mass. We observe the limits of micelles where caseins are not completely fused between them. During the manufacturing the semi-liquid structure of the Lben change to a gel structure and the formed cheese grows rich out of proteins and its structure becomes denser, specially marked enter the first and the third week of manufacturing. Then and to 6 weeks, the structure of cheese does not changed and the proteinic network became just more dense. This structure allows the continuous draining of the whey through the perforations of the goatskin. The CLSM shows the same observation. Fat globules were less in the first weeks of manufacturing and at the end their distribution appears to be homogenous in the protein matrix and are in form of visible small and large globules.