Cheese quality, characteristics and technology of Bulgarian artisanal white brined cheese from raw sheep milk

^{1, 3, 4} University of Food Technologies, Department of Tourism and Culinary management, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
² University of Food Technologies, Department of Technology of Milk and Dairy Products, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
⁵ Agrobioinstitute University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, Sofia, Bulgaria
⁶ North Carolina A&T State University, USA

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

The study aims to evaluate the potential for producing traditional artisanal cheese from raw sheep’s milk. The physicochemical composition of the raw milk was determined, with dry matter at 20.75%, fat at 8.17%, protein at 6.55%, and carbohydrates at 4.94%. The total bacterial count was found to be relatively low (1.4x10⁶ cfu/ml), while the proportion of saturated fatty acids (74.73%) was approximately three times higher than that of unsaturated fatty acids (24.66%). The composition and quality parameters of the traditional artisanal cheese produced from raw sheep’s milk were also examined during a 60-day ripening period. Over this period, a consistent increase in dry matter (from 47.02% to 49.50%) and protein content (from 16.23% to 16.79%) was observed, along with a decrease in water content (from 53.03% to 50.57%), while the fat in dry matter (FDM) remained relatively stable until the end of ripening. The non-protein nitrogen/total nitrogen (NPN/TN) ratio did not change significantly during ripening (P > 0.05). Among the free amino acids in the cheese, leucine (Leu), glutamic acid (Glu), phenylalanine (Phe), lysine (Lys), and valine (Val) accounted for up to 71.81% of the total amino acid content.