Some Properties of Fresh and Ripened Herby Cheese, a Traditional Variety Produced in Turkey
Zekai Tarakçi, Hayri Coşkun* and Yusuf Tunçtürk
Department of Food Engineering, Agricultural College of Yüzüncü Yil University, TR-65080 Van, Turkey
Article history:
Received: November 12, 2003
Accepted: February 16, 2004
Key words:
herby cheese, Otlu peynir, urea-PAGE
Summary:
Herby cheese (Otlu peynir) is widely produced and consumed in eastern parts of Turkey, and is generally made from sheep milk. The objectives of this study were to determine some properties of fresh and ripened herby cheese samples. Samples (20 fresh and 20 ripened) of herby cheese were collected from retail markets in Van, and analysed chemically and biochemically. Higher levels of dry matter, salt, fat and titratable acidity (%) were found in ripened cheeses. Also lipolysis and protein degradation were higher in ripened herby cheese samples than in fresh samples. Urea-polyacrylamide gel electropherograms of ripened cheese samples showed that higher degradation of αs-casein than of β-casein occurred.
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