Influence of temperatures and packaging materials in ewe´s cheeses storage

• Autor(a) principal: Correia, Paula
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Rodrigues, Melania, Mendes, Rita, Guiné, Raquel
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/4938
• topic: Ewe cheese; Packaging; Storage temperature; Physical properties; Sensorial analysis

The use of different conservation methods to increase the shelf life of food has always been a major concern. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of temperature and packaging material in ewe´s cheeses during storage time (at 1, 60 and 120 days). Cheeses were subject to two different storage conditions: control chamber (CC) 16±1C and RH (relative humidity) of 75±2%, packaging in vacuum with a high barrier blade film and polyolefin shrink film; and refrigeration with a mean temperature of 7C and HR 47%. The cheeses packed in polyolefin film presented molds after 20 days of storage. The moisture content and water activity were high, decreasing with storage time, and this effect was more evident in the unpacked cheeses. Vacuum packed cheeses stored in CC (CCP) presented similar colour parameters along storage time, with high L* and low b* values. The harder cheeses were the CC cheeses after 120 days (CC120) of storage, and the stickier ones were the CCP120. The refrigerated cheeses were the most appreciated, followed by cheeses stored at the CC with vacuum package, and the buttery attribute showed high differences. The conservation process greatly influenced the physical and sensorial properties of the cheeses.