Study of the proteolysis of Colonial cheeses from Serra Catarinense during ripening at ambient temperature

Abstract

The artisanal cheese from Serra Catarinense, known as Colonial, can be made with raw milk, thus requiring greater care during the elaboration stages. Ripening, one of the steps that can contribute to the development of the sensory characteristics of each cheese, is a slow process, but it can be accelerated by using high temperatures. The objective of this work was to evaluate proteolysis in eight samples of Colonial cheeses produced in the state of Santa Catarina during 40 days of ripening at a temperature of 24 ± 1 ºC. The determinations of nitrogen fractions, total protein, extension, and depth of proteolysis indexes were carried out. The contents of total protein, soluble nitrogen at pH 4.6, and non-protein nitrogen soluble at 12% TCA showed a gradual increase in the analysis intervals. The results related to the mean of the ripening extension ranged from 7.41% to 16.88% and the ripening depth from 2.85% to 15.02%. The results of the ripening indexes at room temperature of the Colonial cheeses demonstrate that, for a period of 40 days, the biochemical processes that occur during the ripening of the products promoted the proteolysis of the studied cheeses.