Characterization of Cheese Curd Ripened with Penicillium caseicolum for Producing a Flavor Concentrate

Camembert cheese was prepared from homogenized milk containing veal oral lipase and ripened in a loose curd form to speed up the ripening process. Traditional hooped cheese was a control. Free fatty acid titer increased from 58 μmole in the fresh cheese to 359 μmole in control cheese and 2,289 μmole/g of cheese fat in loose curd cheese. After 3 wk of ripening, the cheese had 70% of its total protein as water soluble protein as compared to 39% in the hooped cheese. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed 86% of α_S1-caseins and 35% of β-casein had been degraded in the loose curd cheese. Sensory analysis demonstrated that the loose curd process rapidly produced cheese with intense flavor.