High-Pressure Treatment and Freezing of Raw Goat Milk Curd for Cheese Manufacture: Effects on Cheese Characteristics

High-pressure treatment of raw goat milk curd was investigated as an alternative to thermal treatment of milk in cheese manufacture, and curd freezing as a procedure to surmount the seasonality of goat milk production. Experimental cheeses were made by mixing (70:30) fresh cow milk curd with frozen curd from pasteurized goat milk (PGC), frozen curd from raw goat milk (RGC), or frozen pressurized curd from raw goat milk (PRGC). Control cheese was made from a mixture (70:30) of pasteurized cow and goat milk. RGC cheese showed the highest counts of staphylococci, Gram-negative bacteria and coliforms, whereas PRGC cheese had maximum aminopeptidase activity, esterase activity, and overall proteolysis. Control cheese exhibited the highest dry matter content and peptide levels, the lowest concentration of free amino acids, the highest concentration of volatile compounds such as free fatty acids, alcohols and esters, and the firmest texture. Differences in sensory characteristics between experimental and control cheeses were of minor importance. High-pressure treatment of curd allowed the production of cheese of bacteriological quality similar to that of control cheese made using pasteurized milk, while curd freezing did not alter the sensory characteristics of experimental cheeses with respect to control cheese.