The effect of sodium chloride substitution with potassium chloride on chemical, physical and microbiological characteristics of Mediterranian cheeses

The overall objective of this study was to investigate the influence of salt\ud substitution with KCl on chemical, physical, microbiological and sensory properties of\ud selected Mediterranean cheeses. Salt was substituted with KCl at four different levels\ud (only NaCl, 3NaCl:1KCl, 1NaCl:1KCl, and 1NaCl:3KCl). Halloumi, Akawi and\ud Nabulsi cheeses were prepared and brined in the four different salt treatments for 56\ud days at 4°C, 30 days at 4°C, and 5 months at room temperature, respectively. Lowmoisture\ud Mozzarella cheese was also produced and dry-salted and stretched in the four\ud salt treatments and stored for 27 days at 4°C. Chemical, physical, microbiological and\ud sensory characteristics were examined for all cheeses during storage. Cheeses salted\ud with NaCl/KCl mixtures had similar chemical composition, texture profile, organic\ud acids profile, and microstructure compared with control (made only with NaCl) at the\ud same storage period. Organic acids significantly increased and hardness decreased\ud significantly during storage time at the same salting treatment. The primary proteolysis\ud (measured as water soluble nitrogen: WSN) was insignificantly affected by salt\ud substitution, while the advanced proteolysis (measured as trichloroacetic acid-soluble\ud nitrogen (TCA-SN), and phosphotungistic acid-soluble nitrogen (PTA-SN), and total\ud free amino acids (TFAA) were significantly affected. All proteolysis parameters (WSN,\ud TCA-SN, PTA-SN, and TFAA) increased significantly during storage time. Cheeses\ud salted with NaCl/KCl mixtures at 3:1 and 1:1 ratios were the most similar to control\ud cheese in term of sensory properties