Influence of salt on the quality of reduced fat cheddar cheese

Cream was homogenized in a two-stage homogenizer (17.25 MPa in the first stage and 3.43 MPa in the second stage); blended with skim milk to produce milk containing 1.25% fat, which was pasteurized (63 degrees C for 30 min); and then manufactured into reduced fat Cheddar cheese. After milling, the curd was divided into three equal portions of 13 kg each. Three salting rates, 2.3, 3.8, and 5%, yielded cheeses with 1.3, 1.7, and 2.0% salt and 2.7, 3.7, and 4.5% salt in the moisture phase. Cheese moisture contents ranged from 45% (2.0% salt) to 47.7% (1.3% salt), and fat contents ranged from 14.6 to 15.1%. In the texture profile analysis, the hardness and fracturability of the cheeses increased as the salt content increased. Both parameters decreased during ripening, but cheeses with 4.5% salt in the moisture phase remained the hardest. Cheeses with the most salt had the least desirable body characteristics, but there were no differences in flavor. Intensity of bitterness was lowered as the amount of salt in cheese increased. During ripening, the number of lactic acid bacteria decreased more slowly in cheese with 2.7% salt in the moisture phase than in those with 3.7 or 4.5% salt in the moisture phase. As the salt content increased, proteolysis and the general rate of ripening decreased. Degradation of alpha s-casein was reduced by higher percentages of salt, but no differences were found in the degradation of beta-casein.