Effect of natural acidifying agenst and storage temperature on quality of unripend whey cheese

Abstract EN

The effect of acidifying agents and storage temperature on the quality of unripend whey cheese was investigated.

The acidifying agents namely, white vinegar, lemon juice and grapefruit juice were added during heat treatment of the whey at 90°C where the curd moved and accumulated at the surface, extracted and squeezed for overnight.

The curd was cut into pieces, 10% of salt was added and packed into plastic bags (polyethylene).

The cheese was stored for two months at cold temperature (4 ± 2°C) and room temperature (30 ± 11°C).

Analysis was carried out at intervals of 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days during storage.

The total solids increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) due to the loss of moisture content.

The increase was more (33.09%) when white vinegar was used compared to (32.65%)and (31.95%) for lemon and grapefruit cheese respectively.

The titratable acidity increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) during storage due to high fermentation potential of the whey lactose to produce lactic acid.

Significant increase (P ≤ 0.05) was recorded in the levels of proteins during storage.Theincreasewasmorewithcheeseprocessedbywhitevinegar (18.00%), compared to cheese processed by lemon (16.96%) and grapefruit cheese (17.09%).

The fat content increased in all cheese samples during storage period.

The ash content of the cheese gradually increased during storage time.

The increasewasmorewith lemon cheese (4.49%), comparedwhen itwas processed by grapefruit juice (3.43%) and white vinegar (2.95%).

The samples stored at room temperature got a good score at 15 days of storage and had a shelf life of 30 days, while that stored at cold temperature had a good score at 30 days of storage and still better till the end of storage period (60 days).

Samples stored at cold temperature were significantly the best (P≤0.05) than samples stored at room temperature.

White vinegar cheese was significantly the best (P≤0.05), than lemon cheese, and grapefruit cheese.