STUDIES ON QUALITY PROPERTIES AND STANDARDS OF DOMIATI CHEESE

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to improve the lack in quality properties of Domiati cheese made from heat treated milk through the use of various starter cultures. The study was conducted in two parts, the first one with low-salt Domiati cheese for fast conswnption where the salt was added to cheese milk at the rate of 5%. The second part was planed to study the properties of high-salt Domiati cheese with milk salted at the rate of 10%. Therefore, Domiati cheese was made from heated cows' milk with 2 different levels of salt (low­ salt, 5% or high-salt 10%) with adding 1% activated commercial starter cultures 9f YC-Xll (Str. thermophilus and Lb. delbreukii subsp. bulgaricusl:l, Tl), Bio Profit (Lb. rhamnosus and Prop. freudenreichii subsp. shermanii T2) and LC 705 (Lb. casei T3). Resultant cheese was pickled in its own whey. The low salted cheese was pickled for 6 months while the high salted cheese was pickled for 9 months. Samples were analyzed for compositional, microbiological and sensory properties when fresh and during pickling period comparing to control one (without starter culture). Moisture, salt, ash and yield of low or high-salt Domiati cheese were decreased with adding starter culture while, an increase was noticed in fat, total nitrogen (TN), acidity, soluble nitrogen (SN), total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) values, formol number and schilovich index. High salt cheeses had significantly higher values for moi-sture, salt, ash and yield and with significantly