Aplicació d'altes pressions hidrostàtiques en la maduració de formatges

Semi-hard and hard cheeses account for more than two thirds of the Spanish cheese production. Quality improvement and cost reduction in those cheese varieties are essential to face the increasing competition in both domestic and world markets. The present project has as objectives the development of new technologies for the manufacture and ripening of semi-hard and hard cheeses, in order to improve their quality and reduce their production costs. Three approaches to cheese ripening of potential interest for the dairy industry will be investigated: milk inoculation with bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria as starter adjuncts, high pressure treatment of cheese, and the use of non-lactic acid bacteria (micrococci) producing extracellular enzymes (proteinases and lipases). The two first approaches have in common the optimization of the enzymatic pool present in starter bacteria once curd acidification has taken place. The third approach is based on enzyme production in situ by micrococci, bacteria usually present in raw milk cheeses but not in cheeses made from pasteurized milk, which contribute to the intense flavour of the former cheeses. The three approaches share their reduced cost and the absence of legal objections to their use by the dairy industry