Typical Brazilian cheeses: safety, mineral content and adequacy to the nutritional labeling

Tayanna Bernardo Oliveira Nunes Messias,Marcelo Antônio Morgano,Marciane Magnani,Maria Elieidy Gomes De Oliveira,Tatiane Santi Gadelha,Rita De Cássia Ramos Do Egypto Queiroga Queiroga,Luana Martiniano Da Silva,Maria Teresa Bertoldo Pacheco,Juliane Alves,Tatiana Colombo Pimentel

doi:10.1590/fst.37121

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of six typical Brazilian cheeses (bovine milk coalho, goat milk coalho, fresh ricotta, manteiga, fresh Minas, and Padrão Minas). Padrão Minas cheese presented high acidity and the highest contents of protein, fat, and ash, while Ricotta cheese presented the lowest contents of protein, fat, and ash. Bovine milk coalho and Minas fresh cheeses were characterized as source of zinc. Manteiga cheese was characterized by the yellow color (higher b* values). Goat milk coalho cheese was characterized by the white color (higher L* values) and presented the highest concentration of minerals (potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, manganese, and phosphorus). Part of the typical Brazilian cheeses did not agree with the legislation for moisture (5.9%) and fat in the dry matter (11.8%) classifications, as well as, did not have adequate concentrations of protein (65.4%) and fat (44.9%) stated in the label, being the non-conformity dependent on the cheese type. Furthermore, 30% of the cheeses (30%) disagreed with the microbiological Brazilian legislation, as they presented coliforms and/or coagulase-positive Staphylococcus counts above the limits. It can be concluded that the Brazilian cheeses are nutritive, but the microbial quality and nutritional labels need improvement.

Highlights

Cheeses are highly appreciated dairy products, and they provide essential nutrients for human nutrition in the form of proteins, bioactive peptides, amino acids, fat, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals (Manuelian et al, 2017; Kamimura et al, 2019)
Different batches of different brands of 99 cheeses with great commercial representativeness were collected in the State of Paraíba, Brazil, of which three specimens were obtained from each batch, namely, bovine milk coalho cheese (n = 27), goat milk coalho cheese (n = 12), fresh ricotta (n = 21), manteiga cheese (n = 15), fresh Minas cheese (n = 12) and Padrão Minas cheese (n = 12)
This study evaluated the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of typical Brazilian cheeses

Summary

Introduction

Cheeses are highly appreciated dairy products, and they provide essential nutrients for human nutrition in the form of proteins, bioactive peptides, amino acids, fat, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals (Manuelian et al, 2017; Kamimura et al, 2019). Due to its various metabolic functions in the human body, determining mineral elements such as Ca, K, Mg, P and Na and microelements such as Fe, Mn and Zn in cheeses are of fundamental importance (Gharibzahedi & Jafari, 2017). The use of an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) to determine minerals in cheese can help maintaining the quality of the manufacturing process and can contribute to quantify the majority and trace mineral elements (Matera et al, 2018)

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