Effect of Temperature and Storage Conditions on Chemical properties of Braided (Mudaffara) Cheese

Abstract

Braided (Mudaffara) cheese samples were prepared from fresh cow's milk by traditional methods. The samples were divided into two portions. Samples of 50gm weight from each portion were treated as follows: portion one was stored in whey at two temperature levels (fridge 5c°&room 30c°).Portion two was stored out of whey in polythene bags at the same temperature (fridge and room).The stored sample were stored for 60 days &examined at 15 day interval during ripening for changes in the physicochemical and biochemical qualities. The results indicated that cold storage favors increase in cheese weight since cheese samples stored at fridge temperature in whey maintained significant (p≤0.05) higher weight compared to room temperature and in fridge without whey. The total solids content stored out of whey at room temperature was higher than samples stored in whey. Storage out of whey at both temperature levels is fevor total solid content. The ash content on the other hand was found to be positively affected by storage in whey at both storage temperature levels. Both protein and fat content was found to be favored by storage out of whey at room temperature. The pH was observed to decrease while the titratable acidity increased during storage. The effect of storage on both parameters was significant (P ≤0.05).