Cambios en la composición microbiana de quesos semimaduros en función del cuajo utilizado

Abstract

The use of rennet in cheese making is a practice in constant evolution, being animal rennet a millenary technique of great cultural and historical value despite the hygienic risks that this entails. This quasi-experimental observational study focused on investigating the details of the process of making semi-mature cheeses according to the rennet used and determining its effect on the microbial composition in the ripening of cheeses for four weeks. It was conducted in the laboratories of the Academic Department of Agricultural Sciences Faculty of the Catholic University of Cuenca. The research compared three treatments with the same milk using different types of rennet (lactating goat, microbial, and synthetic). Ten cheeses were made per treatment, with each cheese representing one experimental unit; their organoleptic characteristics and microbial load were analyzed to determine significant treatment differences. In terms of organoleptic properties, no differences were found between treatments; however, there were differences in the microbial load between treatments. On the one hand, it was observed that there are fewer enterobacteria in the goat cheese —which should be further studied in future research— and a higher concentration of Lactobacillus in the cheeses made with animal and microbial rennet compared to synthetic rennet. This suggests that these rennets are more effective in providing probiotics beneficial to intestinal health, which could have significant implications for the nutritional quality of cheeses.