Impact of Selenium on Functional Properties of White Soft Cheese

Abstract

White soft cheese was made from buffalo’s milk. Selenium (Se) was added at cheese milk at the rate of 0.5, 0.8, and 1.0 ppm treatments. Resultant cheese was pickled in whey at 6±2C up to 60 days, during which cheese samples were analyzed chemically for moisture, fat, titratable acidity, salt, soluble nitrogen, total nitrogen, total volatile free fatty acids, tyrosine, and tryptophan. The organoleptic properties of cheese were examined at fresh, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days of pickling.Obtained results showed that total solids (TS), total nitrogen (TN), salt, and fat were slightly increased with increasing the ratio of (Se) during the cold storage for 60 days. The control cheese had the highest both the firmness and syneresis value than the Se-enriched cheese. While the yield ratio of control sample was the lowest value of the treated cheese. Data also obviously that Lactobacilli and Streptococci count increased with increasing the levels of (Se), while the yeasts & molds were not detected in fresh cheese or after two weeks of storage, but they were detected and increased gradually with the progress of storage at 30 days up till 45 days.