A survey on the some chemical and biochemical properties of civil cheese, a traditional Turkish cheese

In this article, 15 randomly selected samples of Civil cheese, were purchased from different retail markets in the Erzurum province, Turkey and were investigated for some chemical and biochemical analyses. All cheese samples were analyzed for dry matter, fat, salt, ash, titrable acidity, total nitrogen, soluble nitrogen, ripening index, alpha(s)-and beta-casein degradation, gamma-casein, and peptides. Dry matter, fat, fat in dry matter, salt, salt in dry matter, ash, and acidity values in samples analyzed were found to be as found between 31.33 and 40.12 g/100 g cheese; 1.00 and 7.00 g/100 g cheese; 2.49 and 18.98 g/100 g cheese; 0.11 and 0.34 g/100 g cheese; 0.27 and 1.04 g/100 g cheese; 1.42 and 5.14 g/100 g cheese and, 0.63 and 2.16%, respectively. TN, WSN/TN, TCA-SN/TN, and PTA-SN/TN values, expressed as TN%, were found between 3.01 and 5.57 g/100 g cheese, 4.25 and 8.80 g/100 g cheese, 3.23 and 6.12 g/100 g cheese, 1.03, and 5.53 g/100 g cheese in Civil cheese samples analyzed, respectively. SDS-PAGE showed that both alpha(S)-CN and beta-CN ratios were not high compared with similar cheeses, and are not completely hydrolyzed in all Civil cheese samples. A broad range of values from chemical and biochemical analysis indicated that Civil cheeses collected from retail markets lacked standardization. Consequently, it was decided that Civil cheese samples do not undergo an excessive proteolysis.