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).