DTRI [Daitry Training and Research Inst., College, Laguna (Philippines)] loaf cheese, a semi-hard cheese with eyes (Danish type) from carabao milk and its by-products

Results of the study enabled the establishment of a modified procedure for semi-hard cheese manufacture from Standardized carabao milk based on preliminary studies that whole carabao milk do not give an acceptable product. Some of the limiations observed were: 1) leaking of the fat from the ripened cheese; 2) the poor development of a desirable creamy yellow color upon aging; 3) the delayed production of the characteristics flavor; and 4) the harder and brittle consistency of the finished products. The standardization of the milk to a casein/fat ratio of 0.80 gave a reasonable texture and consistency which is slightly harder than cow's milk cheese. Two types of mixed cultures were evaluated, added at a rate of 1.0%. The physical, chemical and organoleptic evaluation showed that any of the two types of mixed cultures used provided they essentially contain both lactic acid and citric acid fermenting strains could give the desired characteristics of the ripened cheeses. Starter B cheeses with Leuconostoc citrovorum as its citric acid fermenting component gave more eyes to the cheese blocks (P.01) compared to Starter A cheeses with Streptococcus diacetilactis. The resulting cheeses weighed 2 kg each in forms of loaves. The salt absorption with a soaking time of 16-18 hrs ranged from 1.69% to 1.84%. Ripening proceeded properly from 16 C for the first two weeks, then at 12 C thereafter. The natural pale yellow color of the carabao milk cheese was improved by adding cheese color extracted from annatto seeds (Bixa orellana). The higher scores for texture and color of carabao milk cheese lifted the compounded score to 88.3, two points higher than cow's milk cheese (P.05). The general acceptability index of the cheeses lies between the "like moderately" to "like very much" category. By-products as whey cheese and whey drink were also made. Cheese blocks that were not ideal for sale as naturally ripened cheeses were manufactured into spreadable processed cheese