Some microbiological and sensory characteristics of Cheddar cheese manufactured from conventional and ultrafiltered-concentrated milk

Graduation date: 1988Cheddar cheese making from ultrafiltered (UF) concentrated milk\ud potentially increases yield, saves raw materials, cuts transportation costs,\ud minimizes waste pollution, and stream-lines production. However, the resulting\ud UF-cheese has been found to differ from conventionally made cheese (CM-cheese)\ud in its casein matrix and ripening process.\ud UF and CM Cheddar cheeses were compared in regard to their overall\ud bacterial numbers, non-starter lactic acid bacterial population, potentially\ud pathogenic bacteria, flavor, body and textural characteristics. Standard\ud microbiological sampling procedures were followed. Two plating methods were\ud used and concurrently compared; the manual spread plate, and the automated\ud spiral plate.\ud No significant differences were noted in the over-all bacterial numbers of\ud the experimental cheeses. The non-starter lactic acid bacteria from both cheese\ud types showed comparable carbohydrate fermentation patterns and similar\ud metabolic activities in milk. No significant counts of potential pathogenic bacteria\ud were detected in the UF cheese. The textural scores showed UF cheese to have a\ud slightly higher quality than that of the CM cheese, but there was no difference in\ud the flavor scores.\ud Results obtained lead to the conclusion that the UF and CM Cheddar cheeses\ud used in this study appear not to differ in overall quality. The spiral plating\ud method, as used in this study, was found to give comparable counts and it can\ud potentially save time and costs when the media preparation and counting\ud techniques are done properly