Contribution of lactic acid bacteria esterases to release of fatty acids in miniature ewe’s milk cheese models

ABEIJÓN MUKDSI, M.C.; MEDINA, R.B.; KATZ, M.B.; PIVOTTO, R.; GATTI, P.; GONZÁLEZ, S.N.

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY

ACS Publications

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2009 vol. 57 p. 1036 - 1044

0021-8561

The present work evaluates the contribution of enterococci and Lactobacillus plantarum Ov 236 strains used as starter cultures to release of free fatty acid (FFA) in ewe´s milk cheese models. At 60 days of ripening, cheeses Ov 409 and Ov 421 showed higher levels of total FFA (3075 mg/kg, 2494.62 mg/kg, respectively) than other single strain cheeses. Cheeses Ov 227-Ov 409 and Ov 421-Ov 409 presented high percentage of short chain fatty acids (SCFA). The highest levels of volatile free fatty acids (VFFA) were detected  in cheese Ov 409, Ov 421-Ov 409 and Ov 421-Ov 227. Studies on esterase activities showed that these strains hydrolysed  a-naphthyl derivatives of fatty acids from C2 to C6, mainly associated to wall-membrane fraction. The results showed that strains studied contributed to release of FFA during ripening of ewe’s milk cheese models. The increase of SCFA throughout ripening involves the action of esterases of starter strains.