Influence of Proteolytic Activity of Lactobacillus helveticus Strains on Stretchability of Swiss-type Cheese

Stretchability is a techno-functional characteristic of some cheeses such as Emmental, Mozzarella and Cheddar, which gives one of the most desirable cooking properties for consumers. Stretchability would be highly dependent on the proteolytic potential of the bacterial species present in the cheese ecosystem, especially Lactobacillus helveticus (Richoux et al., 2009)1. Proteolytic enzymes include: 1) Cell envelope proteinases located at the bacterial surface which are responsible for the initial degradation of the caseins into peptides and; 2) Intracellular peptidases, released after autolysis of bacteria, which hydrolysed these peptides into smaller ones and amino acids. Aim: The objective was to investigate the dynamic of the stretchability of Swiss-type cheese made with two strains of Lactobacillus helveticus that differed by their ability to release intracellular peptidases in cheese through autolysis