During the course of ripening, Cheddar cheese frequently develops a flavor defect described as fruity. Recent work has indicated that the use of certain starter cultures ultimately results in the development of the defect as the cheese ages. The flavor compounds responsible for the defect, however, have not been elaborated. The purpose of this investigation was to isolate and identify the components responsible for the fruity flavor defect and to evaluate the role of certain cheese starter cultures in the development of the defect. Since the fruity character of the defect is apparent in the aroma of the cheese, the compounds responsible for the defect were expected to be reasonably volatile. Volatile constituents were isolated by a distillation technique from fat expressed from a typically fruity cheese by centrifugation. The volatile constituents were then separated by gas-liquid chromatography. By monitoring the odor of the effluent stream of the column, it was possible to determine which components had fruity odors, and these were subsequently identified by mass spectral analysis and coincidence of retention time with the authentic compounds. Ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate, and ethyl octanoate were found to be the only compounds with detectable fruity odors. The volatiles from the fat of four cheeses possessing varying degrees of the defect and their matching non-fruity controls were analyzed by a gas entrainment, on-column trapping, gas-liquid chromatographic technique. The manufacturing and curing conditions of each fruity cheese and its matching control were identical, except for the use of different starter cultures. Ethanol, ethyl butyrate, and ethyl hexanoate were more abundant in each of the fruity samples. The approximate concentration range of these compounds was as follows: In fruity cheese; ethanol 400 to 2,040 ppm, ethyl butyrate 1.6 to 24 ppm, ethyl hexanoate 0.9 to 25 ppm. In non-fruity cheese; ethanol 36 to 320 ppm, ethyl butyrate 0.7 to 4.7 ppm, ethyl hexanoate 0.3 to 2.2 ppm. In ten commercial Cheddar cheeses selected at random from the market, the concentration of ethanol ranged from 5.5 to 620 ppm. Single-strain cultures of Streptococcus lactis, Streptococcus diacetilactis, and Streptocococcus cremoris as well as three mixedstrain commercial cultures were evaluated for ethanol and acetaldehyde production in non-fat milk medium. Among the single-strain cultures there appeared to be no correlation between ethanol production and species, although considerable variation was noted for strains within a species. The mixed-strain cultures were designated A, B, and C. Cultures B and C had been implicated in the development of the fruity flavor defect in Cheddar cheese, while culture A produced normal cheese of good quality. Cultures B and C produced approximately 40 times more ethanol than culture A when incubated in non-fat milk medium for one month at 7°C. Certain single-strain cultures and the three mixed-strain cultures were tested for their ability to reduce acetaldehyde and propanal, and to catalyze the formation of ethyl butyrate when ethanol and butyric acid were provided as substrates. Acetaldehyde and propanal were reduced to the corresponding alcohols by all cultures, but the formation of ethyl butyrate was not observed in any culture. A good correlation between high levels of ethanol and high levels of ethyl butyrate and ethyl hexanoate in the fruity cheeses suggests that the quantity of ethanol present in the cheese may determine the amount of ester formed. Further, starters resulting in the defect produced considerably more ethanol than cultures resulting in normal cheese when incubated at 7°C, a normal temperature for curing Cheddar cheese. This observation adds weight to the hypothesis that certain cultures are directly responsible for the defect. / Graduation date: 1966

Graduation date: 1994

Raw milk cheese has unique flavor and textural characteristics not obtainable in cheese from pasteurized milk. Several specialty cheeses made from raw milk are marketed worldwide, especially in Europe. However, because of safety concerns, many countries have imposed stringent restrictions on production and sale of raw milk cheeses. The purpose of this thesis research was to use high pressure (HP) treatment as a novel alternative for conventional pasteurization so that raw milk quality cheese could be produced without compromising food safety. The specific objectives of this research were to evaluate (i) the effect of HP treatment of milk on its coagulation and gelation characteristics, (ii) the destruction kinetics of microorganism and enzymes in milk, (iii) cheese making characteristics of HP treated milk as compared to the raw, pasteurized and micro-filtered milk (controls) and, finally (iv) to evaluate ripening characteristics of cheddar cheese made from HP treated milk in comparison with the controls. / Three coagulation parameters of milk---lag time, mean coagulation rate, and inflexion time (time for reaching the point of maximum coagulation rate)---were evaluated as a function of pressure (200--400 MPa), temperature (3--21°C) and holding time (10--110 min) using a response surface methodology. In general, the lag time and inflexion time decreased while the mean coagulation rate increased with an increase in pressure, holding time or a decrease in temperature: The rennet gel characteristics were evaluated as gel strength (GS) and water-holding capacity (WHC). With a decrease in pressure level, temperature and holding time, there was a decrease in water-holding capacity and an increase in the gel-strength of the rennet curd. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The application of high pressure (HP) processing on raw milk cheese was investigated in order to assure safety and improve quality. Fresh raw milk cheese inoculated with contaminant, spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli K-12, E. coli O157:117 and Listeria monocytogenes), as well as natural micro-flora, were subjected to UP treatment at selected pressures (200--400 MPa) for various holding times (0 to 100 min), or number of pulses. HP destruction of microorganisms followed the dual effect destruction behavior involving a step change in the population due to a pressure pulse (pulse effect, PE) and a first order rate log-linear kinetics during the pressure hold. The pressure dependency of kinetic parameters followed the pressure destruction time (PDT) and Arrhenius type models. / The results suggest that high pressure treatment as a powerful tool for microbial control do not result in major change in raw milk cheese quality properties (color and texture). It would thus be an effective method of inactivation of spoilage bacteria and pathogens for ensuring safety and keeping the quality of raw milk cheese.

Graduation date: 1993

No description available.

No description available.