Shelf-life of a Greek whey cheese under modified atmosphere packaging

“Anthotryros” cheese was packaged under vacuum (VP) or modified atmosphere (MAP) and stored at 4 or 12 °C. MAP mixtures were 30%/70% CO2/N2 (M1) or 70%/30% CO2/N2 (M2), while VP was taken as the control sample. Microbiological results showed that M1 and M2 delayed microbial growth compared with VP samples. Of the two modified atmospheres, gas mixture M1 was the most effective for inhibition of growth of mesophilic bacteria. Based primarily on sensory evaluation, the use of both MAP conditions extended the shelf-life of fresh Anthotyros cheese stored at 4 °C by ca. 10 days (M1) or 20 days (M2) compared with VP, and by ca. 2 days (M1) and 4 days (M2) at 12 °C, with cheese maintaining good sensory characteristics.