Cheese maturity indicators as a sign of intra-species identification

The aim of the work was to establish the possibility of using maturity indicators for intraspecific identification of cheeses. The objects of the study were cheeses belonging to the same species group «semi-hard»: Dutch, Russian, Roquefort, differing in manufacturing technology and organoleptic indicators. The maturity of cheeses was assessed by the degree of proteolysis, molecular weight distribution of proteolysis products, and the buffer capacity of the water-soluble fraction. It was found that with an increase in the ripening duration, the process of accumulation of watersoluble proteolysis products in Dutch and Russian cheeses proceeded linearly with a higher intensity in Dutch cheese. In Roquefort cheese, a sharp increase in the degree of proteolysis was noted after 30 days of ripening to a level of 45±6 %, which is associated with the action of the proteolytic system of Penicillium roqueforti. In the composition of proteolysis products in all cheeses, mediummolecular peptides with molecular weights from 1 to 10 kDa quantitatively prevailed. Over 45 days of ripening, their amount increased in the Dutch and Russian cheeses by 2–3 times, and in the Roquefort cheese by 4–5 times. A significant influence of the peculiarities of cheese production technology on the process of accumulation of substances that impart buffer properties to them was established. During ripening of the Dutch cheese, the buffer capacity increased linearly and increased by an average of 1.6 mmol/dm3 over 60 days. The buffer capacity of the Russian cheese, characterized by increased active acidity, changed nonlinearly during ripening and had higher values than that of the Dutch cheese, both at the beginning and at the end of ripening. By the time of reaching conditioned maturity, the greatest buffering occurred in the Roquefort cheese: 15.2±1.8 mmol/dm3. In the Dutch cheese, this indicator was at the level of 2.5±0.3 mmol/dm³, in the Russian cheese – 4.5±0.5 mmol/dm³. The obtained results allow usto make a positive forecast about the possible intraspecific identification of cheeses based on maturity indicators, which depend on the specifics of their production technologies.

semi-hard cheeses, ripening, degree of proteolysis, peptide profile, buffer capacity, identification