Cadmium variations in Manchego cheese during traditional cheese-making and ripening processes

摘要

Variations in cadmium content were determined throughout cheese manufacturing and ripening pro- cesses by applying graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry to samples of natural pasteurized milk, rennet, curd whey, pressed curd, pressing whey and cheese. The total mean cadmium contents were 4.79±2.4 and 4.67±2.1 μg/kg fresh weight for newly-made and nature cheeses respectively. ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences (p<0.001) in cadmium levels (fresh weight) and these differences were due to the influence of moisture content during cheese manufacture, since no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) were found for dry weight.