Currently, with a more demanding market and with greater concern with issues related to sustainability, the environment, health and well-being, innovation in the food sector becomes preponderant and highly necessary for the viability and success of companies. In Portugal and Europe, the consumption of dairy products has progressively increased, namely products such as yogurts, cream, and cheese. In the Azores, despite the existence of a diverse range of types of cheese, São Jorge cheese and Ilha-type cheese are the most consumed in the region as well in Portugal mainland. This work had, therefore, the objective of creating a product with a biological and, at the same time, regional character – an Ilha type cheese with an organic production method. For this, there was a need to redesign certain steps, namely, to make the product organic with the use of milk from organic production; to exclude the use of preservatives and prohibited substances in this type of product; to find a solution concerning the control of microbiological growth, at least during the curing process, that would allow the certification of “Biological”; to develop a recipe for this type of cheese; and to assess its acceptance before a panel of internal tasters. Two recipes were designed which, in agreement with the personnel specialized in cheese development, were considered suitable: recipe 1 induces a more mature flavor, with longer maturation time and with salty and sweet notes, making the cheese more full-bodied; recipe 2 is selected to make the cheese with greater intensity of flavor, suppressing the sour and bitter notes, focuses on a cheese with a round palate. The physical-chemical aspects relevant to this study were monitored, namely the moisture, the dry extract, the humidity in the dry extract, the pH and the salt content, which resulted in balanced values and within the expected. With the need to preserve the cheese during the ripening time process, was used an innovative packaging, the cheese was packed in this package after the brine exit (salting stage), which made it possible to sharply reduce the percentage of oxygen inside and to condition the growth of aerobic microorganisms. During the two-month ripening process, several analyses were done out on the inside of the cheese and on the surface to measure the number of coliforms, Escherichia coli, yeasts, and molds. The results were quite satisfactory, since, regardless of the recipe under study, the microorganism counts (CFU/g) were always below the internal limit, which is, below the legal limit. For the internal tasters panel, only the cheese from recipe 2 obtained positive results, since the formulation of the cheese from recipe 1 was not balanced in terms of the amount of RSF-636 yeast, making a cheese very acidic and with an imbalance of flavors. The cheese from recipe 2 showed acceptance values of flavor, appearance, texture in the mouth and consistency to the touch like the benchmark reference cheese. In conclusion, it was possible to develop and produce an organic Ilha cheese type, with characteristics like other cheeses of this type.
| Date of Award | 23 Sept 2022 |
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| Original language | Portuguese |
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| Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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| Supervisor | Ana Maria Gomes (Supervisor) |
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