ORIGINAL RESEARCH Effect of some technological parameters on microbiological, chemical and sensory qualities of Civil cheese during ripening FERDA CAMBAZTEPE, SONGUL CAKMAKCI* andELIF DAGDEMIR Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatu ¨rk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey *Author for correspon- dence. E-mail: cakmakci@atauni. edu.tr; songulcakmakci@hotmail. com Ó 2009 Society of Dairy Technology The objective of this research was to determine the effects of different ripening methods [brine salting, dry salting, incorporating with Lor cheese (LR) and vacuum packaging] of Civil cheeses on its microbio- logical, chemical and sensory properties. Civil cheeses were analysed on the 2nd, 30th, 60th and 90th day of ripening. Chemical compositions of the cheeses were significantly different. While the highest dry matter and titratable acidity values were determined on dry salted cheeses, the highest fat and fat in dry matter contents were found in Civil cheese ripened together with LR. The water-soluble nitrogen and ripening index values were lower in cheese ripened incorporating with LR. Excessive proteolysis was not seen in any of cheese samples. The ripening in different methods affected microbiological and sensory properties of Civil cheese. Panellists preferred vacuum packaging and dry-salting cheeses compared to the other samples on the 90th day of ripening. Keywords Turkish cheese, Civil cheese, Low- or reduced-fat foods, Ripening and proteolysis, Some properties. INTRODUCTION Civil cheese is greatly consumed cheese variety in Turkey and generally produced in the eastern part of Turkey, especially in Erzurum province. The cheese is manufactured using skim milk, so con- tains low level of milk fat. Recently, consumers are keeping away from milk fat due to cholesterol and high energy value. Consequently, consumers prefer to take low- or reduced-fat foods (especially dairy products) and so, their popularity has increased. It is manufactured using skim milk without star- ter cultures in small dairies and family processing units and thus, it does not have any production quality standard. A major part of the skim milk, especially from butter production, in dairy plants is processed into Civil cheese to gain a substantial additional economic profit (Yazici and Dervisoglu 2003). The skim milk, from a cream separator, is divided into two equal parts to produce Civil cheese. The first part is allowed to rest overnight at about 15–20°C to increase acidity by natural microflora. Then, acidity of the skim milk is adjusted to 22 Soxhlet Henkel (°SH) by adding the second part of skim milk. Skim milk is heated to 30°C and calf rennet is added for coagulation. As the heating process is slowly increased with a slow agitation, the curd forms at about 52–53°C. Curd particles are facilitated to stick to ladle within the process of mixing until the temperature reaches about 65–70°C. The cheese block is transferred into a clean stainless steel table by a paddle and kneaded by hand. The cheese block is then hung from a platform to stretch by its own weight. The stretching process is repeated until the curd has a smooth, plastic and fibrous character. Finally, Civil cheese is cut into pieces and salted in brine solution (10–12% NaCl) (Kurt and Oztek 1976; C ¸ ag ˘lar et al. 1998; Yazici and Dervisoglu 2003; Hayal- oglu et al. 2008). Civil cheese is either consumed as fresh or generally kept in brine for storage. Sometimes, it may be matured together with Lor cheese (LR). Lor cheese is created with the whey released during the production of white pickled and Kasar cheese. The extra whey is boiled, and the resulting coagulated matter is broken up into tiny pieces. Lor is an unsalted and inexpensive type of cheese. Also, it has high nutritional value due to serum protein (C ¸ ag ˘lar et al. 1998). Civil cheese is generally kept in plastic bags. Although much is known about the chemical, microbiological properties of Civil cheese, only few studies have been published on ripening forms and proteolysis of Civil cheese (C ¸ ag ˘lar et al. 1998; Sengul et al. 2006).There is also no study on pack- aging of Civil cheese. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine microbiological, bio- chemical, chemical and sensory properties of Civil cheese ripened in different methods (brine salting, dry salting, incorporating with LR, Turkish whey cheese and vacuum packaging). Vol 62, No 4 November 2009 International Journal of Dairy Technology 541 doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0307.2009.00536.x