Effects of different ripening procedures on the final characteristics of Picante cheese

Picante da Beira Baixa (or Picante) cheese is a hard, piquant, salted traditional cheese manufactured in Portugal from raw sheep's and goat's milks. The purpose of this work was to quantitatively assess the influence of various ripening procedures on the final characteristics of Picante cheese. Two alternative ripening protocols were considered, the traditional one and another with controlled environmental conditions via use of maturation chambers set at different preselected temperatures. The experimental cheeses were characterised in terms of microbiological, physicochemical, biochemical, sensorial and textural properties. Ripening time and temperature were statistically significant parameters for all microflora. The two ripening methods led to statistically significant differences in all physicochemical and biochemical parameters, especially the moisture content and the soluble nitrogen fractions (i.e. water loss was slower and proteolysis was faster in cheeses ripened via the traditional method). Differences in microbiological, physicochemical and biochemical properties were probables implicated in differences in textural and sensorial properties, especially cheese hardness and flavour. It was concluded that the standard ripening method was closest to the traditional one in terms of final cheese characteristics when the ripening temperature was above 11.5 degrees C.