Milk Ripening as Coagulability Indicator

Titratable acidity is an indicator of milk ripening that points at its coagulability status. It affects the technological process of cheese production, as well as the quality and storage capacity of semi-hard ripening cheeses. The research featured 42 samples of raw cow’s milk with a titratable acidity between 15°T and 18°T, normalized milk, pressed cheese mass, and Dutch and Russian cheeses at different stages of ripening and storage. The experimental data underwent statistical processing using the method of one-way analysis of variance (p = 0.05). The results were compared as a mean ± standard deviation. The raw milk samples were divided into groups to establish the effect of titratable acidity on cheese production and quality. The first group included 19 samples of 15.0–16.0°T (unripe milk) while the second group included 23 samples of 16.5–18.0°T (ripe milk). The milk samples were used to produce Dutch and Russian cheeses to assess the technological process, quality indicators, and storage capacity at different ripening stages. The ripe milk samples with 16.5–18.0°T demonstrated a more active lactic acid process and received better taste and smell scores for both types of cheese. In case of Russian cheese, the same acidity samples showed a 10% reduction of coagulation time, higher consistency scores, and longer shelf life.