Effect of brine concentration on the ripening of an Argentinean sheep's milk cheese

- The use of 20% brine during salting of sheep cheese resulted in a significant decrease in moisture and proteolysis of the cheese.
- The use of 5% and 10% brine led to an increase in proteolysis which resulted in the intensification of the bitterness.
- The salting process for a sheep cheese should be with a 15% brine.

In the present work, it was studied the influence of brine concentration on the ripening of an Argentinean sheep cheese. The aim was to establish the conditions of the salting process for it to lead to a product with good quality and acceptability by consumers. Sheep cheeses were manufactured using a direct-vat-set culture of Streptococcus thermophilus as starter and chymosin as coagulant. The salting was carried out using brine with the following concentrations: 20, 15, 10 and 5% (w/v). The cheeses were vacuum packed on the fourth day and ripened for 60 days. In order to evaluate the influence of salt content in brine on cheese quality, there were analyzed gross composition, pH, microbial counts, proteolysis, sodium and calcium concentration, melting capacity and sensory characteristics. The increase of salt concentration in brine corresponded with a decrease in moisture as proteolysis advanced. This suggests some inhibition of proteolytic and peptidolytic enzymes involved in ripening due to these adverse environmental conditions. In the descriptive sensory analysis, differences were only found for bitter taste, which was significantly higher for the less salted cheeses. This was attributable and correlated with an increase in concentration of hybrophobic peptides due to an imbalance in proteolysis/peptidolysis during ripening. The melting capacity of the cheese was not affected by the level of salt used. Therefore, it is proposed that the salting process for an Argentinean sheep cheese should be with a 15% brine.