A Study of the Influence of Packaging Material on the Development of a Pattern in Semi-hard Cheeses Produced Using Propionic Acid Bacteria

Propionic acid bacteria play an important role in the formation of a pattern on cheese produced using them. In recent years, cheese producers have actively used the rindless technology for its ripening, which has made it difficult to obtain a pre-defined cheese pattern. The influence of the type of packaging material, the ripening temperature in the main chamber, and the salting technology on the process of pattern formation in semi-hard cheese with the involvement of propionic acid bacteria has been studied. The pattern in cheese was analyzed using the non-destructive method of magnetic resonance imaging. Our studies have shown that, the pattern formation during the production of semi-hard cheeses using propionic acid bacteria weighing 5–7 kg and a mass moisture fraction of 44–45% depends on the gas permeability of the polymer material used for cheese ripening and on the temperature in the main ripening chamber. The lowest amount of gas was formed when using a polymer material with a carbon dioxide permeability of 50 cm³/(m² day). The best result was observed when cheese was ripened in packages with CO₂ permeability above 1750 cm³/(m² day) at a temperature of 24°C in the main ripening chamber. The lowering of the temperature in the main chamber to 18°C reduces the volume of formed gas by 5 times. It has also been established that the decrease in the permeability of the polymer material for carbon dioxide from 1750 to 750 cm³/(m² day) has little effect on the development of a pattern in cheese. Increasing the salt concentration gradient in the surface layer of cheese reduces the volume of eyes formed in the subrind layer, thereby reducing the potential for defects in the finished product.