CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

A new minicurd model of hard cheese was proposed and validated. For that, curd particles and whey obtained from conventional cheese-making of Reggianito Argentino were separated and frozen. After that, both fractions were thawed and the mixture whey-curds was reconstituted, from which minicurds were made at laboratory scale. Repeatability, and the effect of freezing on the minicurd composition were investigated by assessing pH, proteins, moisture content, sodium chloride and total thermophilic lactic flora counts. Good repeatability was achieved, and no significant differences were found between minicurds made from fresh and frozen materials. Composition of the minicurd was appropriate to model Reggianito Argentino cheese.