Aspectos sensoriais e microbiológicos do queijo Minas artesanal da microrregião Campo das Vertentes

Abstract

In the state of Minas Gerais there are many families in Serra da Canastra, Serro, Cerrado, Araxá, Campo das Vertentes and Triangulo Mineiro regions that are producing and dependent on artisanal cheesemaking. The Campo das Vertentes region was the fifth region officially recognized by the official Institute of Agriculture from the state of Minas Gerais. Thus, this experiment aimed to evaluate the Minas artisanal cheeses understanding on sensory and microbiological requirements. Data collection was conducted in four selected dairies and registered on the region, in two seasons, dry and rainy, sensorially analyzed in three stages of maturation (10, 20 and 30 days) with three replications. For microbiological analyzes only used them days 0 and 30 ripening and results were transformed by logarithmic averages, however for both was using the Tukey test. The results of the acceptance tests and purchase intent corroborate each other in the attitude of the consumer who prefer to acquire the Minas artisanal cheese matured for 10 days and in the dry season, or even made from raw milk and without proper maturation these are preferred by consumers, but may constitute a health risk. Thus, changes in the habits of the population to acquire more matured product, preferably after the 20 days, would be indispensable for the best quality and safety. Using the method of Quantitative Descriptive Analysis Modified, attributes showed an average coefficient of variation was showing unstable. The following results were found: typical aspects, straw-yellow color, texture variable, semi-hard consistency, aroma-prone intermediate and strong flavor and the main problems detected by the panelists was the excess salt content and bitter taste. For microbiological analysis, it was observed at time 0 to 91.6% for total coliforms, thermotolerants coliforms of 25% and 70.8% of coagulase positive staphylococci were outside the standard adopted by the law, while for the same sequence of micro-organisms, the maturation time 30 this percentage rises to 50%, 33.3%, 16.6%, respectively, and being often within the standards required by law. Salmonella sp. and Listeria sp. proved absent in all samples. It is necessary to continue further studies in the field of development of the Campo das Vertentes region as well as for the improvement of cheeses production and standardization of manufacturing technology aimed at further characterization.