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Lički Škripavac is a traditional Croatian cheese characterised by its soft and rubbery texture and the squeaky sound attained during chewing. Traditionally, it can be produced using two different salting methods: dry salting of curd grains and salting of milk before coagulation. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of the salting method on the chemical composition, yield, texture and sensory properties of Škripavac cheese. Five batches of Škripavac cheese were produced from 40 L of raw cow milk. Milk was divided into two equal parts and cheeses were produced applying the above-mentioned salting methods. Cheeses produced from milk salted before coagulation had significantly (p<0.05) higher water content, significantly (p<0.01) lower protein content and significantly (p<0.01) higher pH value compared to cheeses with salted curd grains. Also, these cheeses had a higher milk fat recovery (p<0.05) and a higher actual (p<0.0001) and adjusted yield (p<0.01). In terms of textural properties, the cheeses that were produced by adding salt to the curd grains were significantly (p<0.05) harder, less crumbly and less elastic than those produced by salting the milk. The method of salting had no significant effect on sensory characteristics of the Škripavac cheese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of composition and proteolysis on textural characteristics of Croatian cheese in a lamb skin sack (Sir iz mišine) over a ripening period of 30 days. Ten ovine milk cheese batches were manufactured according to the traditional manufacturing procedures. The content of total solids, fat, proteins (P<0.05) and salt (P<0.01) significantly increased during cheese ripening. Results of this research showed that αs1-casein hydrolysed more rapid in comparison to the β-casein. An extensive and significant (P<0.05) degradation of αs1-casein was accompanied by significant (P<0.05) accumulation of αs1-I-casein. Although β-casein degradation occurred in cheese to a moderate degree, these changes were not statistically significant. However, the level of γ-casein increased significantly (P<0.01) in cheese throughout ripening. Due to the extensive proteolysis, both TCA-SN (P<0.01) and WSN (P<0.05) significantly increased throughout ripening time. Results showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in hardness, cohesiveness and springiness during cheese ripening along with progress of proteolysis. Weakening effect of caseinolysis predominated over the strengthening effect of moisture loss in the texture development of cheese, which could be attributed to the specific conditions in the animal skin sack during ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to determine suitability of the infrared spectroscopy and the rheological method for distinguishing traditional cheese from industrial Turoš cheese. Turoš cheese belongs to the group of sour, dried, cone shaped cheeses with added salt and red dry pepper. Cheeses were sampled from 15 family farms and from market (industrial cheeses from five different batches). The rheological parameters of analysed cheeses were in accordance with the chemical composition of the same samples. Infrared spectroscopy of cheeses show good relation with the chemical composition and it has been proved to be a fast and effective method when compared to textural and standard chemical analysis for monitoring the standard procedure of production of sour, dried cheeses such as Turoš cheese. The extensive variability of all the parameters was a result of unbalanced production of Turoš cheese among family farms. Industrial production of Turoš cheese demonstrates more uniformity in relation to traditional on-farm cheese production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]