Effect of different types of milks and cultures on the rheological characteristics of Teleme cheese

Teleme cheese was made from sheep’s milk, or goat’s milk or cow’s milk using a thermophilic culture, or a mesophilic culture or a mixture of thermophilic–mesophilic culture. The effect of different types of milk and cultures on textural characteristics of Teleme cheese was examined, during storage. The force at the point of fracture, the compression at the point of fracture and the hardness decreased during the storage period, regardless of the type of milk and culture used. Goat’s milk resulted in harder cheeses, with a higher force at the point of fracture and a higher compression at the point of fracture than cheeses made from sheep’s or cow’s milk, regardless of the culture used and the age examined. Cheeses made from sheep’s or cow’s milk did not differ significantly in the above parameters. Mesophilic culture resulted in cheeses with significantly higher hardness, compression and force at the point of fracture compared to those of cheeses made from thermophilic culture, regardless of kind of milk and the age of cheeses examined. Mixed culture, sometimes behaved as the thermophilic culture and sometimes as the mesophilic culture.