Study of the Physicochemical and Microbiological Properties of Mozzarella Cheese Coated with Edible Casings Subsidized with Green Tea

Abstract

In this study, mozzarella cheese covered with edible and biodegradable films was manufactured from whey proteins reinforced with green alcoholic extract to preserve the environment from degradable plastics surrounding it. Two types of mozzarella cheese were manufactured. The first made unwrapped mozzarella cheese (control sample), and the second treatment was mozzarella cheese coated with whey proteins fortified with green tea at a concentration of (3%) (envelope sample), and its effect on prolonging the storage life of the processed cheese was evaluated by chemical and microbiological tests, as the moisture content on the first day was 53.26 and 53.30% for each of the control sample and envelope sample, respectively. Moreover, this percentage was decreased with significant differences on the last day (P≤0.05) between the two samples to 47 and 51.06%, respectively. As for the pH decreased during the storage period, and it was found that there was a development in acidity during storage and for the two samples with insignificant differences(P≤0.05), The Acid value (AV) for both control and envelope sample was 0.13 (mEq / 100 gm fat). And the value of AV increased with significant differences in storage samples, control sample, and envelope sample until it reached 2.0 and 1.1 (mEq / 100 gm fat). As for the microbiological tests, the total number of bacteria on the day of storage was 3.5 x 102 and 2.7 x 102. control and envelope samples, respectively, decreased at of the storage phase 3-6 logarithmic cycles in the envelope sample compared to the control sample. The numbers of Gram-negative E. coli bacteria were lower by two logarithmic cycles in the envelope sample compared to the control sample. The envelope sample was free of lipolytic bacteria, proteins, Salmonella sp, yeasts, and samples, for the length of the storage period.