Efficacy of starter culture application using immersion technique on the characteristics of cooked-curd cheeses: Kashar cheese sample

Kashar is a cooked-curd cheese and traditionally produced without using any starter cultures. Three different types of commercial starter cultures Choozit ™ MA 11 (MA), BT 01 (BT) and Feta A (Feta) applied to the Kashar cheeses after the cooking stage using an immersion technique to eliminate the negative effect of heat on the viability of starter cultures and their activities. Compositional, sensory and ripening characteristics including electrophoresis were determined. MA-culture showed the highest acid production capability while BT-culture possessed the highest proteolytic activity and sensory scores. The results suggest that the immersion technique has a potential use in the production of cooked-curd cheeses.