Physico-chemical and microbiological characterization of rennet cheese made from pasteurized goat’s milk and frozen for different periods of time

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutritional composition (fat, fat in dry matter, protein, and total dry matter) and microbiological quality (total and thermotolerant coliforms) of rennet cheese produced from pasteurized goat’s milk and frozen for different periods. A completely randomized design was used, with treatments consisting of rennet cheese made immediately after pasteurization and after 51, 90, and 128 days of freezing, for a total of four treatments and three replications. There were no significant changes in relation to total dry extract, fat in dry extract, and protein, with respective averages of 47.26, 46.83, and 21.54%, but there was a significant variation (p < 0.05) in relation to fat content, whose values were 23.16, 22.34, 21.78, and 21.18% for days 0, 51, 90, and 128 days of freezing, respectively. For the microbiological analysis, total coliforms > 1.1 × 104 NMP/g were observed, and for thermotolerant coliforms, values of 7.83 × 103; 8.6 × 102; 7.85 × 102, and 7.34 × 103 NMP/g were found for days 0, 51, 90, and 128 days of freezing, respectively. The production of rennet cheese from frozen goat’s milk is a viable alternative, but adjustments need to be made to the process to improve its microbiological quality.