Limited ripening of low-fat UF-cheese due to CaPo4 barrier?

– The ripening of industrial soft cheeses manufactured using a liquid pre-cheese produced from the ultrafiltration (UF) of milk was observed to be slow in comparison to that of cheese manufactured by a traditional process. Moreover, in the UF-cheeses investigated in this study, which were produced using Penicillium camemberti as the surface flora, several surface defects were observed: the texture was ‘carton’ like and the rind frequently detached from the cheese. To gain a fuller understanding of the development of these surface defects in UF-cheeses, the migration of different minerals and ions, and the study of the rind microstructure by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray mapping were performed. The results suggest that the slower diffusion of lactate, possibly due to the mineral layer at the surface of cheeses, acting as a barrier to its diffusion, may have caused an alteration in the metabolism and growth of the surface mould andmay explain the surface defects of these UF-cheeses