Microbiological, physical–chemical and sensory evaluation of a traditional Brazilian cheese during the ripening process

The ripening process of the traditional Serra do Salitre cheese, a Brazilian Minas cheese variety, was studied on five farms during 60 days. Faecal coliforms decreased and were not detected after ripening for this period. The contamination by coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was reduced at the end of the ripening period only on farms 3 and 4. Staphylococcus aureus was detected only in fresh cheese on farm 5 and decreased in number until it disappeared. No S. aureus was observed in the fresh cheeses from farms 2 and 4, but these were contaminated, probably by the hands of the manipulators, during the ripening process. The humidity decreased and the proteolysis increased during ripening. No correlation of the salt content and the humidity with the degree of proteolysis was observed. The degree of acceptance in the sensory evaluation was higher for cheese that had ripened for 1 and 15 days.