Proteolytical, chemical, textural and sensorial changes during the ripening of Turkish white cheese made of pasteurized cows' milk

Turkish White Cheese (TWC), manufactured from pasteurized cows' milk, was ripened over 90 days at 4 degrees C, and proteolytical, chemical, textural, and sensorial changes were investigated. The main compositional characteristics of TWC are low content of total solids (TS) (39.80-41.75 g/100 g of cheese), high content of fat (49.12-49.91 g/100 g of TS) and salt (8.69-9.35 g/100 g of TS). The lactose level, pH values, and titratable acidity of samples were found between 0.74-2.05 g/100 g of TS, 4.39-4.68, and 0.73-1.12 g lactic acid/100 g of cheese, respectively. Changes in nitrogenous fractions, Urea-PAGE electrophoregram and RP-HPLC chromatograms showed that TWC undergoes a slight proteolysis. Textural attributes of TWC were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the ripening period. The highest overall acceptance scores were found at the 60 days of ripening. Bitterness was identified at the end of the 60 and 90 days of ageing period.