The life of cheese Paxson, Heather
2012., 20121110, 2012, c2013., 2012-12-10, Volume:
41
eBook
Cheese is alive, and alive with meaning. Heather Paxson's beautifully written anthropological study of American artisanal cheesemaking tells the story of how craftwork has become a new source of ...cultural and economic value for producers as well as consumers. Dairy farmers and artisans inhabit a world in which their colleagues and collaborators are a wild cast of characters, including plants, animals, microorganisms, family members, employees, and customers. As "unfinished" commodities, living products whose qualities are not fully settled, handmade cheeses embody a mix of new and old ideas about taste and value. By exploring the life of cheese, Paxson helps rethink the politics of food, land, and labor today.
Cheese is an excellent and complex food matrix that preserves in concentrated form valuable milk constituents, such as proteins, minerals, vitamins, and biofunctional lipids. The formation of cheese ...mass requires the removal of whey, i.e., water and soluble milk substances—proteins, minerals, lactose, and vitamins. It is well known that whey, apart from being a serious environmental threat, is a valuable substrate for the formation of new products with excellent functional and biological activities. This reprint aims to share research related to (i) cheese production, ripening, and properties, and (ii) whey and whey components’ functionality and biological value, as well as whey exploitation and processing.
The aim of the present study was to assess the relationships of lactose percentage (LP), lactose yield (LY), and freezing point (FRP) with minerals and coagulation properties predicted from ...mid-infrared spectra in bovine milk. To achieve this purpose, we analyzed 54,263 test-day records of 4,297 Holstein cows to compute (co)variance components with a linear repeatability animal model. Parity, stage of lactation, season of calving, and herd-test-date were included as fixed effects in the model, and additive genetic animal, within- and across-lactation permanent environment, and residual were included as random effects. Lactose percentage was more heritable (0.405 ± 0.027) than LY (0.121 ± 0.021) and FRP (0.132 ± 0.014). Heritabilities (± standard error) of predicted milk minerals varied from 0.375 ± 0.027 for Na to 0.531 ± 0.028 for P, and those of milk coagulation properties ranged from 0.348 ± 0.052 for rennet coagulation time to 0.430 ± 0.026 for curd firming time. Lactose percentage showed favorable (negative) genetic correlations with milk somatic cell score (SCS) and FRP, and it was almost uncorrelated with casein-related minerals (Ca and P) and coagulation properties. Moreover, LP was strongly correlated with Na (−0.783 ± 0.022), a mineral known to increase in the presence of intramammary infection (IMI) and high somatic cell count. Indeed, Na is the main osmotic replacer of lactose in mastitic milk when the blood–milk barrier is altered during IMI. Being strongly associated with milk yield, LY did not favorably correlate with coagulation properties, likely because of the negative correlation of this trait with protein and casein percentages. Milk FRP presented moderate and null genetic associations with Na and SCS, respectively. Results of the present study suggest that the moderate heritability of LP and its genetic correlations with IMI-related traits (Na and SCS) could be exploited for genetic selection against mastitis. Moreover, selection for LP would not impair milk coagulation characteristics or Ca and P content, which are important for cheesemaking.
•The optimal dose of microbial coagulant is about 45% higher than that of calf rennet.•Coagulants from Rhyzomucor miehei induce minor changes in cheese proteolysis.•Free amino acid accumulation in ...cheese is not affected by microbial coagulant type.
The increasing use of rennet substitutes entails evaluating their performances on different types of cheese. The production of hard cheese using either microbial coagulants from Rhyzomucor miehei (MC) or calf rennet (CR) from different manufacturers was investigated in parallel cheese makings at three industrial dairies. Cheeses were analysed after 9, 12, 16 and 18 months of ripening. Minor differences in cheese composition were found between treatments, principally related to fat content. Cheeses produced with one out of the three MC showed slower primary proteolysis on both αs1- and αs0-casein, compared to the corresponding CR cheeses, indicating a different activity of this coagulant. The same cheeses also had significantly different sensory profiles at 9 months of ripening. Treatments did not differ in free amino acid composition nor in rheological parameters, regardless of ripening period. The long ripening of hard cheeses thus smooths possible differences attributable to MC.
Skim milk powders may be used as a convenient alternative to fresh milk in high moisture Mozzarella cheese manufacturing. The effects of a blend of 40 g/100 g of reconstituted low heat skim milk ...powder and 60 g/100 g fresh milk on processing and quality of Mozzarella cheese (experimental) were evaluated, in comparison with cheeses produced only with fresh milk (control). The ability of experimental curd to retain fat during stretching was lower than control, as showed by the fat content in stretching water (2.85 ± 0.45 g/100 g and 2.01 ± 0.31 g/100 g for experimental and control curds, respectively). However, cheeses showed a similar composition. Cheese rheological properties were affected, as experimental Mozzarella showed a more organized casein network with tanδ and n’ values lower than control cheeses. The use of powder milk also increased the fraction of solvation water measured with low field NMR when compared with control cheeses. This study demonstrated the applicability of a blend with 40 g/100 g of reconstituted milk to obtain Mozzarella cheese without major changes in product quality.
•40 g/100 g recombined milk and fresh milk were used to manufacture Mozzarella.•Cheese made with recombined and fresh milk showed comparable composition and yield.•Recombined milk cheese showed a more organized protein network than fresh ones.•Recombined milk increased the fraction of bound water in Mozzarella cheese.
Caciocavallo Palermitano is a typical stretched-curd cheese that has been produced over the centuries in Sicily according to traditional cheesemaking technology and using raw milk from autochthonous ...cow breeds reared at pasture. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of the farming system and processing technology on the characteristics of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese, with particular regard to the fatty acid profile. The farming system was either extensive, using autochthonous cows fed a pasture-based diet, or intensive, with specialized dairy cow breeds fed mainly hay and concentrate. The cheese-processing technology was either artisanal, using traditional wooden tools and endemic lactic bacteria, or advanced, using modern steel equipment and selected lactic bacteria. Twelve Caciocavallo Palermitano cheeses, 3 from each of the 4 experimental theses (2 farming systems × 2 cheesemaking technologies), were obtained and aged for 1, 30, 60, and 120d. Milk of origin and cheeses were analyzed for the main chemical and rheological parameters. Fatty acids were methylated in lyophilized cheese and analyzed by gas chromatography. Sensory analysis was carried out by trained panelists. The PROC GLM of SAS 9.1.2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NY) was used for the statistical analysis. The physical, chemical, and sensory characteristics of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese were influenced more by the farming system than by the cheesemaking technology. Compared with cheese produced through intensive farming, cheese from extensive farming was richer in polyunsaturated, n-3, and odd- and branched-chain fatty acids, as well as in conjugated linoleic acid (cis-9,trans-11 C18:2), with accompanying improved human health benefits. The cheesemaking technology produced variation in the evolution of proteolysis during aging, due presumably to the different active microflora, which influenced the sensory profile of the resulting cheese. Indeed, cheese produced by artisanal manufacturing was described as less “bitter” and more “piquant” than cheese produced through the advanced process.
Indicator bacteria reflect the overall microbiological hygiene status in the food industry. Enterococcus species, particularly E. faecalis and E. faecium, are representative hygiene indicators; ...however, other species have not been thoroughly evaluated for their role as indicators. In the present study, we compared the isolation rates between E. faecalis/faecium (EF) and non-faecalis/faecium Enterococcus spp. (NFE) in dairy foods and characterized them to evaluate their applicability as alternative hygiene indicators with the prevalence. A total of 39 Enterococcus spp. isolates consisting of 10 EF (25.6%, 9 E. faecalis and E. faecium) and 29 NFE (74.4%, 11 E. durans, 3 E. gallinarum, and 15 E. hirae) were isolated from 75 dairy samples in a farmstead cheesehouse in South Korea. Biochemical diversities among isolates demonstrated that various isolates were contaminated at each cheesemaking step. Thirty-four out of 39 isolates exhibited antibiotic resistance to at least one antibiotic and 4 NFE isolates harbored at least one virulence gene. In conclusion, despite their scarce evidence of virulence, NFE may be alternative hygiene indicators given their high prevalence in dairy samples.
•Prevalence of non-faecalis and non-faecium Enterococcus species was higher.•E. durans was predominant in dairy food.•Non-faecalis and non-faecium Enterococcus species had antibiotic resistance.•Virulence and antibiotic resistance genes were identified.
The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between differential somatic cell count (DSCC) and milk quality and udder health traits, and for the first time, between DSCC and milk ...coagulation properties and cheesemaking traits in a population of 1,264 Holstein cows reared in northern Italy. Differential somatic cell count represents the combined proportions of polymorphonuclear neutrophils plus lymphocytes (PMN-LYM) in the total somatic cell count (SCC), with macrophages (MAC) making up the remaining proportion. The milk traits investigated in this study were milk yield (MY), 8 traits related to milk composition and quality (fat, protein, casein, casein index, lactose, urea, pH, and milk conductivity), 9 milk coagulation traits 3 milk coagulation properties (MCP) and 6 curd firming (CF) traits, 7 cheesemaking traits, 3 cheese yield (CY) traits, and 4 milk nutrient recovery in the curd (REC) traits. A linear mixed model was fitted to explore the associations between SCS combined with DSCC and the aforementioned milk traits. An additional model was run, which included DSCC expressed as the PMN-LYM and MAC counts, obtained by multiplying the percentage of PMN-LYM and MAC by SCC in the milk for each cow in the data set. The unfavorable association between SCS and milk quality and technological traits was confirmed. Increased DSCC was instead associated with a linear increase in MY, casein index, and lactose proportion and a linear decrease in milk fat and milk conductivity. Accordingly, DSCC was favorably associated with all MCP and CF traits (with the exception of the time needed to achieve maximum, CF), particularly with rennet coagulation time, and it always displayed linear relationships. Differential somatic cell count was also positively associated with the recovery of milk nutrients in the curd (protein, fat, and energy), which increased linearly with increasing DSCC. The PMN-LYM count was rarely associated with milk traits, even though the pattern observed confirmed the results obtained when both SCS and DSCC were included in the model. The MAC count, however, showed the opposite pattern: MY, casein index, and lactose percentage decreased and milk conductivity increased with an increasing MAC count. No significant association was found between PMN-LYM count and MCP, CF, CY, and REC traits, whereas MAC count was unfavorably associated with MCP, CF traits, some CY traits, and all REC traits. Our results showed that the combined information derived from SCS and DSCC might be useful to monitor milk quality and cheesemaking-related traits.
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