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Microstructural, Textural and Colour Characteristics During Ripening of Hispánico Cheese Made Using High-Pressure-Treated Ovine Milk Curd

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Abstract

High-pressure (HP) treatment of curd at low temperatures, on top of efficiently reducing microbial loads while maintaining most of the enzymatic activity, can be useful to overcome the seasonal shortage in ovine milk production. In this work, raw ovine milk curds were subjected to a wide range of HP treatments and, after frozen storage, used in the manufacture of Hispánico cheese. Confocal scanning laser microscopy of HP-treated curds showed increasing denser and more compact protein networks with the pressure applied. Although no differences in overall porosity were recorded between HP-treated and non-pressurised curds, HP treatment lowered pore number and modified pore size and shape. Whereas confocal scanning laser microscopy of control cheese showed open structures with numerous and irregular cavities, additional highly compact protein network areas could be observed in experimental cheeses micrographs. These differences trailed off with time and were no longer observed after 60 days of ripening. Experimental cheeses had significantly lower dry matter values than control cheese, and higher proteolytic indexes. Their texture was less firm than that of control cheese throughout the whole ripening period, requiring less force to be broken and deformed. Experimental cheeses showed lower lightness values than control cheese after 30 days of ripening, but no differences were found after 60 days. Our results indicate that frozen storage of HP-treated curds from ovine milk is a viable option for the production of Hispánico cheese.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by project AGL2004-06051/ALI from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCINN). R. Alonso thanks INIA for her Predoctoral fellowship. K.H.M. van Wely is supported by a JAE-Doc fellowship from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The authors thank M. de Paz and B. Rodríguez for their valuable technical assistance in the cheese-making trials and HP treatments.

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  1. Departamento de Tecnología de Alimentos, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Carretera de La Coruña Km 7, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    A. Picon, R. Alonso & M. Nuñez

  2. Lab 411, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología — CSIC, Darwin 3, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    K. H. M. van Wely

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  1. A. Picon
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Correspondence to A. Picon.

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Picon, A., Alonso, R., van Wely, K.H.M. et al. Microstructural, Textural and Colour Characteristics During Ripening of Hispánico Cheese Made Using High-Pressure-Treated Ovine Milk Curd. Food Bioprocess Technol 6, 3056–3067 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-012-0955-x

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