Salt and water profiles in surface dry-salting goat’s cheese during ripening

Abstract

In order to determine the evolution of sodium chloride and water distribution profiles, surface dry-salting goat cheese was analyzed during a four-week ripening period. The concentration profiles of sodium chloride and water were analyzed according to the height and diameter of the cheese pieces and the response surface analysis was applied for the interpretation. Water distribution was higher on the outside of the pieces until the second week of ripening due to water movement caused by osmotic pressure gradients after NaCl uptake, after which there was surface dehydration. In the sodium chloride profile there was an initially rapid salt uptake by inward diffusion in the surface layers, which decreased as ripening advanced. Although the cheeses were turned over regularly, the salt and water distributions were unequal on the top and bottom surfaces in the early stages and vertical distribution was favored due to the gravitational effect. At the end of the study period the concentration of NaCl in the vertical direction was in equilibrium, while small differences persisted in the horizontal direction. The prediction of the evolution of the proposed models indicates that equilibrium of NaCl concentration would be reached after 35 days ripening.