Effect of Type of Milk and Storage Period on the Quality of Hard Cheese*

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of
storage period on the chemical composition of hard cheese (“Roomi”),
manufactured from cow and goat milks and their blends (1:1). A starter
culture 1% of Streptococcus thermophills and Lactobacillus bulugaricus
and rennet tablet (one tablet /50 litre milk) were used. The curd was
cheddared, salted, moulded, pressed overnight, coated with paraffin wax
and stored at 12±2ºC for ripening. The proximate analysis of cheeses
reflected changes in total solids, total protein and fat contents towards
ripening. Cheese prepared from goat milk recorded higher level of solids
and fat than cow and blend cheeses. Cow cheese showed significantly
(P≤0.05) higher level of protein than goat and blend cheeses. The pH of
the three types of cheeses significantly (P≤0.05) decreased in
concomitance with increase in their titratable acidity of all cheeses. The
soluble nitrogen content increased significantly (P≤0.05) during ripening
of all cheeses. The ratio of soluble nitrogen to total nitrogen also
increased significantly (P≤0.05) during ripening of all cheeses.