Operational characterisation of a Micro-SME producing farmhouse cheese in the south of Venezuela

A piece of research is presented that was conducted on the Guayanes Farmhouse Telita Cheese Producers Network located in the Piar and Padre Chien rural municipalities of Bolivar state in Venezuela. Guayanes telita cheese is a regional dairy product. The producers are to be found in a rural area with a high potential for marketing the label in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). This market is the focal point of the strategic importance of this study for the Region and the Country. The research is of a descriptive scope conducted in the field. A questionnaire based on good food production practice was used as a data gathering technique. The final sample comprised 30 production units. Statistical processing was performed with version 15.2 of the STATGRAPHICS Centurion computational tool. The results would appear to confirm previous studies that point to the existence of factors that prevent these Micro-SMEs from guaranteeing the food safety of the product. The results indicate that new lines of research need to be opened up. These are oriented towards formulating strategies for the continuous improvement of these micro-SMEs, including quality control indicators.

Effect of solute and matric potential on growth rate of fungal species isolated from cheese

The effect of water potential ( J w ) on the growth of 15 fungal species isolated from cheeses was analysed. The species, identified mainly by analysis of DNA sequences, belonged to genera Penicillium , Geotrichum , Mucor , Aspergillus , Microascus and Talaromyces . Particularly, the effect of matric potential ( J m ), and ionic (NaCl) and non-ionic (glycerol) solute potentials ( J s ) on growth rate was studied. The response of strains was highly dependent on the type of J w . For J s , clear profiles for optimal, permissive and marginal conditions for growth were obtained, and differences in growth rate were achieved comparing NaCl and glycerol for most of the species. Conversely, a sustained growth was obtained for J m in all the strains, with the exception of Aspergillus pseudoglaucus , whose growth increased proportionally to the level of water stress. Our results might help to understand the impact of environmental factors on the ecophysiology and dynamics of fungal populations associated to cheeses.

Effect of solute and matric potential on growth rate of fungal species isolated from cheese

The effect of water potential ( J w ) on the growth of 15 fungal species isolated from cheeses was analysed. The species, identi fi ed mainly by analysis of DNA sequences, belonged to genera Penicillium, Geotrichum, Mucor , Aspergillus , Microascus and Talaromyces . Particularly, the effect of matric potential ( J m ), and ionic (NaCl) and non-ionic (glycerol) solute potentials ( J s ) on growth rate was studied. The response of strains was highly dependent on the type of J w . For J s, clear profiles for optimal, permissive and marginal conditions for growth were obtained, and differences in growth rate were achieved comparing NaCl and glycerol for most of the species. Conversely, a sustained growth was obtained for J m in all the strains, with the exception of Aspergillus pseudoglaucus, whose growth increased proportionally to the level of water stress. Our results might help to understand the impact of environmental factors on the ecophysiology and dynamics of fungal populations associated to cheeses.

A portable NIR device for the optical supervision of milk coagulation process

The coagulation of milk is the fundamental process in cheese-making, based on a gel formation as consequence of physicochemical changes taking place in the casein micelles, the monitoring the whole process of milk curd formation is a constant preoccupation for dairy researchers and cheese companies (Lagaude et al., 2004). In addition to advances in composition-based applications of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), innovative uses of this technology are pursuing dynamic applications that show promise, especially in regard to tracking a sample in situ during food processing (Bock and Connelly, 2008). In this way the literature describes cheese making process applications of NIRS for curd cutting time determination, which conclude that NIRS would be a suitable method of monitoring milk coagulation, as shown i.e. the works published by Fagan et al. (Fagan et al., 2008; Fagan et al., 2007), based in the use of the commercial CoAguLite probe (with a LED at 880nm and a photodetector for light reflectance detection).

Occurrence of moulds associated with ovine raw milk and cheeses of the Spanish region of Castilla La Mancha

The distribution of mould species was examined at several points of the processing chain in a Manchego cheese plant and associated dairy farms. Geotrichum and Fusarium were the most frequent genera isolated in milk samples as well as in 1-month ripened cheeses, evidencing a direct transfer from raw milk. Conversely, the mycobiota of long-ripened cheeses consisted mainly of Penicillium species, which gained entry to the cheese through the air of ripening rooms. This study contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of fungal populations in semihard and hard cheeses, highlighting that airborne transfer from the stables could have a direct impact on their quality.