Low fat cheeses often suffer from undesirable texture and flavor. The objective of this study is to improve the yield, texture, flavor and quality of low fat Cheddar cheese during ripening using exopolysaccharide-producing lactobacilli and ripening cultures. The article represents one of the first attempts to tackle both texture and flavor at the same time. The study reveals the effect of aging on the texture and flavor of low fat Cheddar cheese over a ripening period of six months. The cheese manufactured with a modified protocol using EPS-producing cultures and ripening cultures showed higher values for moisture content (45%) and yield (9.4%) when compared to cheese manufactured with the conventional procedure and without the addition of EPS-producing cultures and ripening cultures (37.7%) and (4.9%) respectively. The obtained results indicated a 70% decrease in the fat content of the cheese. Texture profile analysis (TPA) indicated that the hardness, the cohesiveness, the springiness, the gumminess and the chewiness of the cheeses made using the EPS-producing cultures decreased with aging. The texture of the ripened low fat cheese made using EPS-producing cultures was described as chewy, springy, cohesive and smooth. The use of the ripening cultures resulted in the elimination of the bitter flavor defect which is a common problem in low fat Cheddar.
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