Estudo Comparativo Entre Denominações Com Base Nas Principais Características De Queijos Semiduros Tradicionais Brasileiros: Uma Abordagem Quimiométrica

Abstract

In Brazil, cheeses traditionally consumed as Minas Artisanal, Colonial, Minas Padrão and Meia Cura, have high economic value and are commonly produced on a small scale, following artisanal manufacturing methods. However, some food industries cannot maintain

the standardization of these products, which can interfere with its final quality and cost- effectiveness, resulting in consumer dissatisfaction. Some statistical tools are used to group

cheeses, regarding their differences and similarities, others are used to classify and also identify possible frauds or false names of cheeses. Based on this, the objective of this study was to determine the relationships between the denominations and characteristics of the four main traditional Brazilian semi-hard cheeses, to establish their differences and classify the samples statistically. Fifty-six samples of Minas Artisanal (n=13), Colonial (n=16), Minas Padrão (n=17), and Meia Cura (n=10) cheeses were evaluated, where labeling information such as denomination, origin, Inspection Service, heat treatment of milk and type of inoculum used. Data on piece weight (kg), height (cm), diameter (cm), price per kg in U$ and validity were also collected. Analyzes of color and texture profile, moisture content, pH, lipids, protein, ash content, sodium and sodium chloride content, tyrosine content, and chromatographic analysis were performed to identify lactic acid and lactose content. The results were statistically evaluated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), Flexible Independent Modeling by Class Analogy (SIMCA), Flexible Independent Modeling by Data-Oriented Analogy (DD) -SIMCA) and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA). All the evaluated parameters showed high variability. Of the samples of Minas Padrão and Colonial cheeses, 63.0 and 37.5% respectively, were classified as soft cheeses. The ripening process was big variability between the types of cheeses studied. The analysis confirmed two groups with high similarity: Colonial and Minas Padrão; and Minas Artisanal and Meia Cura. Among these cheeses, only Colonial and Minas Artisanal were the ones that best belonged to their respective classes, according to the supervised methods addressed in this study. The DD-SIMCA method was the one that, on average, best classified the cheeses (83%). The results suggest the need to standardize the manufacturing protocols of Colonial (AC), Minas Artesanal (MA), Minas Padrão (MP) and Meia Cura (MC) cheeses. In addition, better inspection or control of these products should be implemented.