Title:Exogenous Enzymes in Cheese Making: An Overview
Volume: 18
Issue: 5
Author(s): Emilia Caputo, Carlos Alberto Meinardi and Luigi Mandrich*
Affiliation:
- Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems IRET-CNR, Via Pietro Castellino, 111, 80131 Naples, Italy
Keywords:
Cheese making enzymes, flavour formation in cheese, cheese ripening, Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), Non-Starter Lactic Acid Bacteria (NSLAB), EST2 from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius in lipolysis.
Abstract:
The flavour in mature cheese results from a complex series of biochemical events that
occur in the curd during ripening. More than 500 varieties of cheese are produced in the world,
and each of them possesses its typical sensory characteristics. Flavour depends on milk variety,
starter bacteria used in cheese-making and ripening.
Amino acids and Free Fatty Acids (FFA) act mainly as precursors of a series of catabolic reactions,
still not well understood. These reactions lead to the production of aroma compounds such
as esters, fatty acids, aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, hydrocarbons, lactones, and sulphur.
Enzymes involved in all these processes are derived from milk, Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB),
Non-Starter Lactic Acid Bacteria (NSLAB), rennet, or fungi. In cheese industrial production, the
milk pasteurization process leads to the removal of endogenous bacteria; therefore it is necessary
to add exogenous enzymes to enrich and standardize cheeses flavour.
Here, we reviewed some exogenous enzymes used in industrial cheeses production or which
have interesting potential in cheese making and ripening.