Avaliação das características de qualidade físico-química, microbiológica e sensorial e de propriedades funcionais de queijo mussarela

Abstract

The quality of the mozzarella cheese can be grouped into different categories, which include microbiological, physicochemical, sensory and functional properties that are of fundamental importance. The starter cultures used in the manufacture are responsible for acidification of the curd and together with the rennet, will be very significant in the process of maturation, especially when referring to percentage of proteolysis, which has direct relationship with the functional properties. Thus, the objective of this work was to obtain mozzarella cheese with desirable quality characteristics for applications in hot dishes, as well as the evaluation of commercial samples for checking the quality of the product available in the retail market. The cheeses made in this work were evaluated during storage/maturation periods of 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 days after manufacture, in order to assess changes in quality. The evaluation was carried out considering selected physicochemical analysis, water activity and color; sensory analysis, microbiological analysis and the functional properties: meltability, “oiling-off” and texture. With this study, it was possible to develop the product protocol for mozzarella cheese production. During the maturation time, alterations occurred in the analyzed parameters, among them proteolysis extension and depth increase, as well as the increase in melting capacity and oil release. The texture was also changed during time, decreasing the toughness. The sensorial analysis results did not present significant difference (p>0.05) among the produced lots and among maturation time, making it evident that consumers are not demanding regarding product quality. It is the same criteria of acceptance for samples with difference in physical-chemical parameters and functional properties. The analysis for samples of commercial mozzarella cheese presented significant difference (p<0.05) for all the analysed parameters, and the largest variations were given to proteolysis extension and functional properties. The results for main components showed that cheese is clustered in relation to the maturation degree, that is, samples with 05 and 10 days from maturation form Cluster 1, and samples with 20, 30 and 40 days from maturation form Cluster 2 and the third group (Cluster 3) was formed with commercial samples. The three observed groups in the principal component analysis were kept when the hierarchy cluster analysis (HCA) was applied, in which the samples are clustered by similarity. Regarding microbiological quality, both experimentally produced samples and also commercial samples presented results in accordance with those preconized in the Brazilian legislation.