Changes of mineral concentrations in Serra cheese during ripening and throughout the cheesemaking season

Seasonal changes of the ash content and mineral concentrations in Serra cheese were studied over a typical 35-day ripening period. Statistically significant differences (at the 5% level) exist between the ash content and the concentrations of Na, K, Ca, P, Mg and Zn in cheeses during ripening. The highest concentrations of Na was obtained in cheese ripened for 7 days, whereas the concentrations of K, Ca, P, Ng and Zn decreased significantly during ripening. For 35-day-old cheeses, concentrations of Na, K and Cu were lowest and concentration of P was highest for cheeses manufactured in May. The concentration of Ca was lowest for cheeses manufactured in February. On average, the most concentrated minerals (in g kg^-1 of total solids, TS) in 35-day-old Serra cheese were Na (18.56), Ca (9.70) and P (7.92) and, at a lower level, K (1.70) and Mg (0.96). Only trace levels (in mg kg^-1) of Zn (94.33), Cu (2.26) and Mn (1.25) were detected. A high mineral nutrition quality was thus ascribed to 35-day-old Serra cheese based on the average nutritional densities: 4.8 for Ca, 4.0 for P, 1.1 for Mg, 3.4 for Na, 2.4 for Zn, 0.4 for Cu, 0.2 for Mn and 0-2 for K.