Avaliação de queijos minas artesanais da região de Campo das Vertentes fabricados com prensagens manual e mecânica

Abstract

In the region known as Campo das Vertentes, the local production of Artisan Minas Cheese (AMC) has rudimentary aspects, as it is often the case with other AMCs. The cheese-pressing step is handmade, without any help from pressing machines. This study’s goal was to evaluate the traits of the cheese made in said region, using both manual and mechanical pressing procedures. The cheeses were made in the factory itself, in four different days (with four repetitions) and maturated for 22 days, in accordance with the applicable legislation. The raw materials and techniques applied were identical, except for the pressing - manual and mechanical, representing the study of both methods. After the maturation, the cheeses were subjected to different analysis, spanning physicochemical, microbiological, texture and color aspects. There were no statistical differences between the methods (P> 0,05) for the physiochemical aspects analyzed, save for the notable divergence of humidity and protein levels (P < 0,05). Even if the humidity discrepancy is accounted for, both methods were well within the acceptable limits pursuant to the applicable norms (45,9 %). Due to the inverse correlation between humidity and protein levels, the cheese made with mechanical pressing had a higher humidity percentage, and, thus, less protein content when compared to the manual pressing method. While the mean values of L* and b* had a significant statistical difference (P < 0,05) among both methods, this was not the case with parameter a* (P > 0,05). Meanwhile, there were also notable statistical discrepancies regarding the texture profiles (P < 0,05) between the mechanical and manual methods, which may be related to the mentioned differences of humidity and protein levels. There was no statistical difference (P < 0,05) in the results of the microbiological analysis, indicating that using the mechanical cheese press did not interfere in the total microorganism count. The results of this work demonstrate that adjustments are still needed in order to use mechanical cheese presses to produce QMAs; however, with additional research, it is possible to successfully emulate the characteristics of handcrafted cheese.