Exopolysaccharide Production by Streptococcus thermophiles on the Physicochemical Characteristics of Prato Type Cheeses

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect on the physicochemical characteristics of Prato type cheeses with the production of Exopolysaccharides (EPS) by Streptococcus thermophiles and to compare the results obtained with traditionally-manufactured cheese. There are few studies related to exopolysaccharides produced from lactic acid, however, many investigations describe this production as important in improving the physicochemical characteristics in concentrated milk derivatives like yogurt. In the present study, Prato type cheese was elaborated from three formulations: Traditional (T) (adding mesophilic and thermophilic crop), lyophilized (L) (addition of thermophilic crop) and replicate (R) (addition of thermophilic crop replicated). The physicochemical properties determined were fat, moisture, salt, dry matter, total protein, soluble nitrogen at pH 4.6 and nitrogen 12%; the evaluation was performed at 5, 25, 45 and 65 days of ripening, determining that the bonds formed between the exopolysaccharides, milk proteins and bacterial cells influenced in enhancement of these properties while using the treatments L and R. The results were interpreted by analysis of variance and, depending on the significance, Tukey's test was used with a 5% probability level.