Chemical and microbiological characteristics of traditional homemade fresh goat cheeses from Northern Morocco

- The chemical and microbiological characteristics of the fresh goat cheeses made in Northern Morocco were studied.
- Fresh homemade goat cheeses made with three different technologies were studied.
- Cheeses are characterized by low pH values and low dry matter contents, and high levels of free fatty acids.
- Lactic acid bacteria were the dominant microbiota, being the enterococci the main isolates.
- No Salmonella spp. was detected. Listeria monocytogenes was detected in four cheese samples.

A chemical and microbiological survey was performed on 28 fresh raw goat's milk cheeses from Northern Morocco. Cheeses were characterized by their low pH values (3.81-4) and low dry matter contents (24.9-31.2 g/100 g). Fat, protein and ash contents were 14. 4-17.1, 8.3-10.3, and 1.12-1.75 g/100 g, respectively. High levels of FFA were determined (3260-3507 mg/kg), the most abundant being oleic, stearic, palmitic, myristic and capric acid. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were the dominant microbiota (7.9-9.7 log cfu/g), and yeasts and total coliforms were also present in high numbers (5-7 log cfu/g). Salmonella spp. was not detected in any of the cheese samples. Listeria monocytogenes was detected in four cheeses. A total of 294 LAB isolates were identified by PCR as Enterococcus spp. (249 isolates), Lactococcus lactis (36), Lactobacillus plantarum (7) and L. paracasei (2).