Types of Cheese and Organisms Involved in Ripening

Types of Cheese and Organisms Involved in Ripening

	Types of Cheese and Organisms Involved in Ripening - Cheese consists of milk curds that have been separated from the liquid portion of the milk (whey). The curdling of milk is done by enzyme rennin (casein coagulase or chymosin) and lactic acid bacterial starter cultures. Cheeses are classified as soft (high, 50-80% water content), semi hard (about 45% water) and hard (a low water content, less than 40%).
They are also classified as unriped if produced by single-step fermentation or ripened if additional growth is required during maturation of the cheese to achieve the desired taste, texture and aroma. Cottage and cream are soft, unripened cheese; Brie, Camembert and Limburger are soft, 1-5 months ripened cheeses; Blue, Brick, Gorgonzola, Monterey, Muenster and Roquefort are semi soft, 1-12 months ripened cheeses, whereas Cheddar and Colby are hard, 3-12 months ripened cheeses.
Natural production of cheese involves lactic acid fermentation, with various mixtures of Streptococcus and Lactobacillus spp. used as starter cultures. The flavour results from use of different microbial starter cultures, varying incubation times and conditions and the inclusion or omission of secondary microbial species late in the process. Ripening involves additional enzymatic transformations after the formation of cheese curd.
Swiss cheese formation involves a late propionic acid fermentation with ripening done by Propionibacteria shermanii. Various fungi are also used in the ripening of different cheeses. The unripened cheese is inoculated with fungal spores. Blue cheeses are produced by Penicillium spp. Roquefort cheese is produced by using P. roqueforti and Camembert and Brie by using P. camemberti and P. candidum.

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