Compositional Differences of Greek Cheeses of Limited Production.

Greece has a long tradition in cheesemaking, with 22 cheeses registered as protected designation of origin (PDO), 1 as protected geographical indication (PGI), and 1 applied for PGI. Several other cheeses are produced locally without any registration, which significantly contribute to the local economy. The present study investigated the composition (moisture, fat, salt, ash, and protein content), color parameters, and oxidative stability of cheeses that do not have a PDO/PGI certification, purchased from a Greek market. Milk and cheese types were correctly assigned for 62.8 and 82.1 % of samples, respectively, through discriminant analysis. The most important factors for milk type discrimination were L, a and b color attributes, salt, ash, fat-in-dry-matter, moisture-in-non-fat-substance, salt-in-moisture, and malondialdehyde contents, whereas a and b, and moisture, ash, fat, moisture-in-non-fat substance contents, and pH were the most influential characteristics for sample discrimination according to cheese type. A plausible explanation may be the differences in milk chemical composition between three animal species, namely cows, sheep, and goats and for the manufacture procedure and ripening. This is the very first report on the proximate analysis of these, largely ignored, chesses aiming to simulate interest for further study and production valorization.

Effect of Fortification with Mushroom Polysaccharide ß-Glucan on the Quality of Ovine Soft Spreadable Cheese.

In the present work, a fresh spreadable cheese from ovine milk with or without (control) fortification with ß-glucan was manufactured. ß-Glucan was extracted from the mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus and its concentration in the cheese was 0.4% (w/w). The composition, biochemical, and sensory properties of the cheeses during 21 days of storage were determined. At the end of storage, cheese fortified with beta-glucan had 75.26% moisture content, 10.30% fat, 1.71% salt, and 8.50% protein. Generally, the addition of ß-glucan at this concentration did not significantly affect the composition, color, and viscosity measurements or the level of proteolysis and lipolysis and the antioxidant activity of the cheeses. However, cheese fortified with ß-glucan showed a higher moisture content than control cheese on the 1st and 21st day of storage while the levels of proteolysis and the sensory properties of the cheeses were unaffected. During the sensory evaluation, panelists evaluated cheese with ß-glucan with higher scores regarding the flavor characteristic compared to control cheese. The major free fatty acid was acetic acid in both cheeses and its concentration was higher in cheese with ß-glucan. The results of the present study could be used by the dairy industry for manufacturing new products with improved health benefits.

Manufacture of Reduced Fat White-Brined Cheese with the Addition of ß-Glucans Biobased Polysaccharides as Textural Properties Improvements.

ß-Glucan, isolated from the mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus, at a concentration of 0.4%, was used in the manufacture of reduced-fat white-brined cheese from sheep milk. Control reduced-fat cheese was also produced from the same milk without the addition of ß-glucan. The resultant cheeses were examined for their physicochemical characteristics, color and textural properties, and level of proteolysis and lipolysis. Furthermore, cheeses were evaluated organoleptically. In general, there were no statistical differences in the physicochemical characteristics and proteolysis levels found between both cheeses. The addition of ß-glucan improved textural properties, and the cheeses received favorable grades for all the organoleptic characteristics. There were no flavor defects (such as a bitter taste) described by the panellists in this study. Generally, the addition of ß-glucan did not significantly affect total free fatty acid content; however, at 180 days of ripening and storage, cheeses with the addition of ß-glucan had a higher (p < 0.05) content than cheeses without ß-glucan. The major fatty acids were acetic acid and capric acid.

Semi-Industrial Production of Kashkaval of Pindos Cheese Using Sheep or a Mixture of Sheep-Goat Milk and the Utilization of the Whey for Manufacturing Urda Cheese.

Kashkaval of Pindos cheese was successfully produced using 100% sheep milk (KS) or with the addition of 10% goat milk (KG). Urda cheese was manufactured using 100% sheep milk (US) or 90% sheep milk-10% goat (UG) whey from the production of kashkaval of Pindos cheese. Both cheeses were made taking into account their traditional cheese-making methods. The cheeses were assessed for their chemical, microbiological and organoleptic characteristics. Generally, no significant differences were observed between KS and KG cheese and between US and UG cheese regarding their physicochemical, textural characteristics, soluble nitrogen fraction and total fatty acid content. The fat content of Urda cheese was low, in accordance with the demand of consumers for healthy products. KS cheeses showed higher total volatile compounds than KG cheeses at 60 and 90 days of ripening and storage as well as lower counts of thermophilic-mesophilic lactic acid bacteria. No differences were observed in the microbial counts between US and UG cheeses. Acetone, hexanal, 2 heptanone, ethanol and toluene were found in abundance in Urda cheeses. Both kashkaval of Pindos and Urda cheeses received high scores during the organoleptic evaluation. The obtained data may lead to the production of both cheeses with standard characteristic according to the traditional recipes and improve their recognition.