The use of dried cheese in food production and food preparation sectors is becoming increasingly widespread. Dried cheese is preferred because of their longer shelf life at room temperatures, smaller packaging sizes, practical use, and their ease of homogenization in food products. Various technologies are currently being used for the drying of cheese and efforts are still being made to develop new methods. Freeze drying is a highly preferred technique for the production of dried cheese due to high quality of the final product. Instant removal of water and low process temperatures ensure an effective prevention of chemical and microbial deterioration. In this study, White, Kashar and Tulum cheeses were dried by freeze-drying method. Physicochemical analyses were carried out on the first day in order to determine the initial quality of cheese samples. The moisture and salt content were highest in White cheese, titratable acidity and fat content were highest in Tulum Cheese. Freze dried cheese samples were stored in room conditions for 6 months and changes in microbial populations such as mesophilic aerobic bacteria, yeast and moulds, lactic acid bacteria, Staphylococci spp. and coliform group bacteria were determined. The results showed that Tulum Cheese contained highest microbial counts in general. The number of bacteria was 7.71±0.10 log cfu/g in Tulum Cheese, 5.70±0.07 log cfu/g in White cheese. Total counts of yeasts and molds were 7.37±0.06 log cfu/g for Tulum cheese and 4.92±0.07 log cfu/g for Kashar Cheese. Statistical analysis was performedby using Minitab Statistical Package Program to evaluate the results of microbiological analysis on dried cheese samples.

Turkish white cheeses after brine salting were subjected to high pressure processing (HPP) at 50, 100, 200 and 400 MPa for 5 and 15 min and the samples pressurized for 15 min were ripened in brine for 60 days. The effects of HPP on the salt distribution in external, middle and internal zones of cheese after pressurization and on the salt uptake of whole cheese block during ripening were investigated. HPP did not change the values of moisture, salt and salt in moisture in different zones of cheese. Furthermore, pressure holding time had no effect on salt distribution in cheese. The salt contents of un-pressurized and pressurized cheese samples were equilibrated on the 14th day of ripening, and then stabilized, with no high pressure effect. As a result, HPP at pressures up to 400 MPa did not significantly affect neither salt distribution after high pressure processing nor salt uptake during ripening. However, a slight increase in moisture at the pressures of 200-400 MPa on the 60th day of ripening, which was not significant, might warn further increases in moisture of white cheese for longer ripening periods than 60 days. Higher pressure applications may alter all those values in white cheese because of textural changes.