JP6946008B2 - Cheese and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to cheese having a musty flavor and a method for producing the same.

Mold-based natural cheese typified by Camembert cheese and blue cheese is cheese that has a unique flavor and texture with mold and the like growing on the surface and inside. However, these mold-based cheeses have a short shelf life of about 30 days after production, and the so-called eating time is about one week.

The reason why the time to eat is short is that the growth rate and metabolism of molds are faster than those of lactic acid bacteria. When mold grows, aging progresses rapidly, so it is easier to eat than cheese that does not use mold, such as Gouda cheese.

Among mold-based cheeses, Camembert cheese has a white mold on its surface, and blue cheese mainly grows blue mold inside the cheese. The growing part of this mold is harder than the cheese part where the mold is not growing, and the texture is deteriorated. In addition, the mold itself has a very strong mold flavor and often exhibits a bitter taste, which may adversely affect the flavor.

In relation to the mold-based cheese as described above, Patent Document 1 has a roll-like or layered shape in which the flavor of white mold cheese or blue mold cheese is spread throughout, the storage stability is good, and the cut cross section has a beautiful spiral or layered pattern. In order to provide a processed mold-aged cheese product and a method for easily producing the mold-aged cheese processed product in a short period of time, the raw material cheese is made into a sheet, and white mold-based microorganisms or blue mold-based microorganisms. After inoculation, fermentation and aging after inoculation is performed at a higher temperature and for a shorter time than that of normal white mold cheese and blue mold cheese. It discloses a method for preparing a rolled or layered processed cheese product having the flavor of white mold cheese or blue mold cheese when heated.

However, a method for producing a mold-based cheese using a mold culture containing little or no mycelium or spores of mold and a mold-based cheese are not disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 2681891

An object of the present invention is to provide a mold culture containing little or no mycelium or spores of mold and a method for producing the same, and a mold cheese using the mold culture and a method for producing the same.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes the following configurations.
(1) It is characterized by containing one or more enzymes derived from molds of the genus Penicillium or Aspergillus and proteins derived from milk having coagulability, and containing almost no or no mold spores and mold mycelium. Mold culture.
(2) The mold culture according to claim 1, which is in the form of a gel or a solid.
(3) A cheese containing the mold culture according to (1) or (2) and containing little or no mold spores and mold mycelium.
(4) The content of methyl ketones is 3000 ppb or more and 8000 ppb or less, the content of ethyl esters is 60 ppb or more and 200 ppb or less, and the value obtained by dividing the content of methyl ketones by the content of ethyl ketones is 15 or more and 135 or less. The cheese according to (3), which is characterized by being.
(5) Gels or solids containing coagulable milk-derived proteins, and
Using a membrane that does not allow mold spores and mold mycelium to permeate,
A step of inoculating the mold spores on the membrane so that the mold spores are not mixed in the gel-like or solid matter, and
The process of culturing under aerobic or anaerobic conditions and
After culturing, the step of removing the membrane and
A method for producing a mold culture containing little or no mold spores and mold mycelium.
(6) A method for producing cheese, which comprises a step of adding the mold culture according to (1) or (2).

The present invention provides a mold culture containing little or no mycelium or spores of mold and a method for producing the same, and a mold cheese using the mold culture and a method for producing the same.

The present inventors have investigated a method for preparing a mold culture containing enzymes and aroma components produced by the growth of mold, and containing little or no mold spores and mycelia, and such molds. When aged cheese was produced by mixing the culture with cheese curd, the flavor was similar to that of the cheese on which mold was grown, and the so-called eating period was long, resulting in a texture, even though there was no growth of mold. We have found that we can produce excellent cheese.

More specifically, in the present invention, a filter that can be used for food is placed on a solid medium mainly composed of a milk-derived raw material, and mold spores are inoculated and cultured on the filter, and mycelia grow sufficiently. It is obtained by removing almost or all of the fungal filaments and spores from the solid medium made of milk-derived material by removing the filter after the enzyme and aroma components have permeated into the solid medium made of milk-derived material. The present invention relates to a mold culture, a cheese to which the mold culture is added, and a method for producing the cheese.
The present invention will be described in detail below.

(Preparation of mold culture)
The mold culture can be prepared by using the mold spores described below, a medium containing a coagulable milk-derived protein, and a filter.

(Type of mold)
As the mold used for preparing the mold culture, any mold classified into the genus Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Monascus can be used as long as it can be used as food, and at least one of these can be used. One or more types of mold can be used.
The mold used to prepare the mold culture is Penicillium roqueforti in the genus Penicillium.
It is preferable to use Penicillium camemberti, and in the genus Aspergillus, it is preferable to use Aspergillus oryzae.

(Preparation of mold spores)
The mold spores used for the preparation of the mold culture may be prepared by any method as long as the mold spores can be recovered, and the following method can be exemplified as one embodiment.
The mold is cultivated on a solid medium such as sterilized standard agar medium or potato dextrose agar medium. The type of medium, the culture temperature, and the culture time can be adjusted depending on the type of mold used, but an example of a method in which the mold is surface-stained on a sterilized potato dextrose agar medium and cultured at about 25 ° C. for about 10 days. Can be done.
Sterilized water or about 0.9% saline solution that has been sterilized is added to a solid medium in which mold has grown on the surface, and the mold that has grown on the surface of the solid medium is suspended in the liquid. Mold spores can be obtained by filtering this suspension and filtering the mold spores.
The filter used for filtering mold spores may be any filter as long as it does not elute components that cannot be used as food and has a pore size of 20 μm or less.

(Preparation of medium)
As the medium for preparing the mold culture, any medium containing a food protein having coagulability may be used, and as one embodiment, an example in which a medium containing β-lactoglobulin is used can be mentioned. You can. In fact, since the mold culture is a raw material for cheese, it is preferable that the protein contained in the medium is mainly composed of milk-derived components.
Further, as will be described later, since the filter is placed and the mold culture is used by mixing with cheese curd, the medium containing the milk-derived protein having coagulability is preferably in the form of a solid or gel.
The medium can be in the form of a gel or solid by containing a protein derived from milk having coagulability. Therefore, the medium containing the milk-derived protein having coagulation property may contain the milk-derived protein having coagulation property to the extent that it becomes solid or gel-like when cooled, and is derived from milk other than β-lactoglobulin. Does not prevent it from containing ingredients. In the medium containing β-lactoglobulin exemplified as one embodiment, the content thereof may be about 20% by weight or less, and 4% by weight or more and 15% by weight or less is particularly preferable.
For the preparation of the medium, a whey protein concentrate containing about 50% or more of whey protein can be used as a source of coagulable milk-derived protein. Further, as other raw materials, milk-derived raw materials such as milk protein concentrate containing about 50% or more of milk protein, full-fat milk powder, skim milk powder, butter and the like can also be used.
By dissolving the above-mentioned raw materials in water and sterilizing them, a medium containing a coagulable milk-derived protein can be obtained. The sterilization process may be carried out by a conventional method.
In addition, a whey protein concentrate treated with lactase can also be used to prepare a medium containing a coagulable milk-derived protein. As a specific example, a 25% by weight aqueous solution of whey protein concentrate containing about 20% by weight of lactose and about 80% by weight of whey protein was prepared, treated with lactase, and 80% of the lactose contained in the whey protein concentrate. Degraded to glucose and galactose can be used. The above-mentioned decomposition of lactose may be carried out before the sterilization treatment of the medium containing the milk-derived protein having coagulability, or may be carried out at the same time as the mold culture in the preparation of the mold culture described later. The lactase used may be any lactase that can be used in food.
In addition, the pH of the medium containing a coagulable milk-derived protein can be adjusted by adding an acid or an alkali. Since pH affects the enzyme production of mold, it is preferably 3.5 to 8.0, more preferably 4.0 to 6.5.

(filter)
The filter used for preparing the mold culture may be any filter as long as it can collect mold spores and mold mycelium and can permeate enzymes and aroma components produced by the growth of mold. As the upper limit of the filter, the pore diameter may be 20 μm or less, preferably 10 μm or less, more preferably 5 μm or less, and even more preferably 1 μm or less. The lower limit may be 0.01 μm or more, preferably 0.05 μm or more, more preferably 0.2 μm or more, and even more preferably 0.1 μm or more. The pore diameter range is preferably 0.01 to 20 μm, most preferably 0.1 to 1 μm.
The material of the filter may be any material that can be used in the production of foods, and examples thereof include cellulose, borosilicate glass, nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and among these, cellulose and borosilicate. Acid glass and polyester are preferable.
The filter may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

(Preparation of mold culture)
The above-mentioned filter that has been sterilized is placed on a medium containing a protein derived from milk that has a solid or gel-like coagulability that has been sterilized and cooled, and the medium on which the filter is placed is inoculated with mold spores. Inoculation of mold spores should be performed on a filter to prevent direct contact of mold spores with media containing coagulable milk-derived proteins.
A medium containing a coagulable milk-derived protein inoculated with mold spores on a filter is cultured at about 10 to 40 ° C. for about 5 to 40 days.
After culturing, by removing the filter, almost or all of the mold spores and mold mycelium can be removed, and a mold culture containing almost no or no mold spores and mold mycelium can be obtained.
In the preparation of the mold culture, the number of mold spores to be inoculated may be about 10 to 100,000 per square centimeter of the filter, preferably about 100 to 10,000, and more preferably about 500 to 5,000.
The mold culture prepared as described above and containing little or no mold spores and mycelium can be used as it is for cheese production, but crushed ones may be used. In addition, the mold culture can be refrigerated at about 10 ° C. or cryopreserved at −30 ° C. or lower.
The mold culture contains enzymes and aroma components derived from mold, and by appropriately diluting them and using them in the production of cheese, so-called mold-based cheese having a long eating period can be obtained.

(Cheese preparation using mold culture)
The homogeneity of cheese preparation using mold cultures will be described.
Lactic acid bacteria, rennet, etc. are added to the raw milk to coagulate the milk to generate cheese curd, and then whey is discharged from the cheese curd.
Add mold culture to the cheese curd from which whey has been separated. The amount of the mold culture added may be 0.1% by weight to 20% by weight, and 0.5 to 5% by weight is particularly preferable.
The cheese curd and mold culture are mixed evenly, the mixture is packed in a mold, and a load is applied using a cheese press to mold.
The press-molded card is taken out from the mold and immersed in about 20% saline solution for salting. After salting, the cheese is taken out from the saline solution, covered with a cloth, and allowed to stand in an aging chamber at about 10 ° C.
The cheese is turned upside down about once a day, and after the first aging while removing the water in the cheese, the upper surface of the cheese is coated with edible wax, and then the second aging is carried out in the aging chamber at about 10 ° C. This makes it possible to obtain mold-based cheese.

(Mold cheese produced using mold culture)
The mold cheese produced by using the mold culture of the present invention will be described.
The mold-based cheese produced using the mold culture of the present application contains little or no mold spores and mold mycelium, but appropriately contains methyl ketones and ethyl esters that contribute to the flavor of the mold-based cheese. It is included in.
That is, the mold-based cheese of the present application has a methyl ketone content of 3000 ppb or more and 8000 ppb or less, and an ethyl ester content of 60 ppb or more and 200 ppb or less, and contains or contains almost no mold spores or mold mycelium. Despite the absence, it contains a moderate amount of aroma components that contribute to the flavor of mold-based cheese.
The ratio of methyl ketones to ethyl esters contained in the mold cheese of the present application is about 15: 1 to 135: 1 (the value obtained by dividing the content of methyl ketones by the content of ethyl ketones is about 15 or more and 135 or less). It has a well-balanced, moldy cheese-like flavor.
Furthermore, since the mold-based cheese of the present application contains almost no mold spores or mold mycelium, the aroma component is within the above range even when aged for about 3 months, and the so-called ready-to-eat period is long. ing.
In the specification of the present application, the fact that the mold spores and the mold mycelium are hardly contained or not contained means that the mold spores and the mold mycelium are substantially not contained, and in a strict sense, all of them are completely contained. It is not required to be removed. That is, substantially not contained means that it is not contained to the extent that the growth of mold is suppressed. For example, as shown in Examples described later, it means a degree that cannot be confirmed by visual observation.
Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described in detail, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

(Preparation of mold culture)
The strains shown in Table 1 were inoculated on an agar medium prepared by mixing mash potato and glucose, cultured at 25 ° C. for 10 days, and then moist sterilized with a 0.9% NaCl solution on an agar medium overgrown with cells. Was added to and suspended. The suspension was filtered through gauze to filter mycelium and only spores were collected. The number of spores in the obtained suspension was measured in advance using a hemocytometer and used as a spore suspension (mold spores) for inoculation.
A commercially available whey protein concentrate (whey protein content: 80% by weight) is dissolved in water to 25% (w / w), adjusted to a predetermined pH (4.0 to 7.0), and sterilized by moist heat. A medium containing β-lactoglobulin was prepared.
The medium containing β-lactoglobulin was poured into a sterilized container to a depth of 10 mm, cooled to room temperature and solidified. Sterilized kitchen paper (filter) was placed on this medium and allowed to stand for 1 hour.
A medium containing β-lactoglobulin on which kitchen paper was placed was inoculated with a spore suspension (mold spores) prepared in advance so that the number of spores was 550 per square centimeter. This was cultured under aerobic conditions for 10 to 30 days at 10 to 30 ° C.
After culturing, the kitchen paper was turned over from the medium to remove mycelium, and a mold culture was obtained. As a result of visual confirmation, no mycelium was observed in the obtained mold culture. The mold culture was ground in a food processor and stored at −80 ° C. until used in cheese production.

The culture condition a and the culture condition b are the differences in the culture temperature after inoculating the spore suspension in the medium containing β-lactoglobulin with a filter. The culture condition a is 15 ° C. and the culture condition b is 20 ° C. Was cultured in. In the preparation of the mold culture, A. oryzae was cultured under the culture condition a without placing kitchen paper as a comparative example product.

(Cheese production)
The raw material milk was adjusted so that the fat content was about 3%, sterilized at 75 ° C. for 15 seconds with a plate-type sterilizer, and then cooled to about 30 ° C. Transfer this raw milk to a cheese bat with a jacket and starter powder containing Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. Cremoris, Lactococcus.lactis subsp. Lacttis biovar. Diacetylactis and / or Leuconostoc as a lactic acid bacterium starter (Christian Hansen) And calf Lactococcus rennet (Christian Hansen) was added, and the mixture was gently stirred and then allowed to stand at about 30 ° C.
After about 30 minutes, the milk coagulated, and 5 minutes after the start of coagulation, the cheese curd was cut into cubes of about 10 mm using a horizontal curd knife and a vertical curd knife. After cutting, whey was drained from the cheese curd with gentle stirring.
To promote whey spillage, the curd and whey mixture was heated to about 40 ° C. at a rate of 2 ° C. for 5 minutes. The mixture was stirred for 15 minutes while keeping at about 40 ° C., after which the curd and whey were separated and deposited in a cheese vat.
The mold culture was uniformly mixed with the obtained cheese curd at a ratio of 1% and packed in a resin mold having a capacity of 1 kg. As a control, β-lactoglobulin medium to which mold was not added was sterilized by moist heat (121 ° C., 15 minutes), and crushed by a food processor was added to prepare cheese. Using a cheese press machine, ^{a load of 1 kg / cm 2} was applied and the primary press was performed for 10 minutes. After that, the card was inverted and press-molded for about 1 hour with a load of ^{about 2 kg / cm 2.} The press-molded card was removed from the mold, weighed, and immersed in 25% saline at 11.5 ° C. for 24 hours for salting. After salting, the cheese was taken out of the saline solution, covered with a cloth, and allowed to stand in the aging chamber at 11.5 ° C.
Once a day, the cheese is turned upside down, first aged until about 15% of the water in the cheese is removed, then coated with edible wax on the top surface of the cheese, and then secondarily aged in the 11.5 ° C aging chamber. I let you. Cheese aging was carried out for 3 months.

(Evaluation method)
The produced natural cheese was evaluated according to the following items.
(I) Sensory evaluation of aroma, taste, texture, and appearance Five skilled panelists evaluated the aroma, taste, texture, and appearance of mold cheese. The evaluation was as follows: ⊚: very preferable, ◯: preferable, Δ: neither can be said, and ×: unfavorable.
(ii) Measurement of maturity The total nitrogen content (TN) and non-protein nitrogen content (NPN) in cheese were determined by the Kjeldahl distillation method and determined by the NPN / TN ratio.
(Iii) Analysis of aroma components After crushing each sample with a food processor, 1 g of each sample and 0.05 g of 2-methyl-2-butenal of 5 ppm as an internal standard sample were added to the vial. After replacing the headspace with high-purity nitrogen, it was sealed with a screw cap with a septum. Using DVB / Carboxen / PDMS resinous SPME fiber, heat at 37 ° C for 60 minutes, collect the aroma components volatilized in the head space and use them for GC / MS analysis, and measure the contents of methyl ketones and ethyl esters. bottom. The detector used was an MSD 5975C manufactured by Agilent technologies, and the column used was a VF-5ms manufactured by Agilent technologies. The sample injection uses a splitless injection method, and as a temperature rise condition, the temperature is maintained at 37 ° C. for 2 minutes, then the temperature is raised to 100 ° C. by 10 ° C. per minute, and then the temperature is raised to 140 ° C. by 2 ° C. After holding for a minute, the temperature was raised to 220 ° C. at 30 ° C. per minute, then the temperature was raised to 300 ° C. at 10 ° C. per minute, and the measurement was carried out under the condition of holding for 5 minutes.

(result)
The results of sensory evaluation and maturity are shown in Table 2.
The control had an appropriate flavor, umami, and texture typical of Gouda cheese, and the appearance was in the same state as a general Gouda cheese aged 3 months. From this result, it was confirmed that the above-mentioned conditions have no problem as cheese production conditions.
Example products 1 and 2 prepared by adding a mold culture prepared using A. oryzae Example product 3 prepared by adding a mold culture prepared using P. roqueforti, using P. camemberti In each of the Example products 4 prepared by adding the prepared mold culture, the aroma and taste were highly evaluated and the maturity was increased as compared with the control product to which the mold culture was not added.
In Example product 1, no growth of mold was observed on the surface of the cheese, and it was visually confirmed that the cheese did not contain mycelium. Example product 1 maintained a good state without any significant change in appearance and texture even after aging for 3 months.
Example product 2 under the condition that the culture temperature of the mold culture is 5 ° C. higher than that of Example product 1 has a slightly bitter taste, a strong lanced odor, a strong umami taste, and a taste property. The evaluation was largely divided.
On the other hand, in the comparative example product to which the culture containing the bacterial cells was added, mold propagated on the surface of the cheese, and the mycelium was contained in the cheese. The change in appearance and the embrittlement of hardness during the aging period were remarkable, and the texture was not preferable. In addition, the flavor changes drastically during the aging period, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of maintaining the eating period.
In addition, although the blue flavor of Example product 3 is weaker than that of the control product, the cheese has a good balance of flavor and umami, and Example product 4 has Camembert and blue as compared with the control product. The cheese has both flavors, mushroom-like flavor and Gouda umami. This result indicates that by preparing a mold culture using various types of mold, a mold-based cheese having a desired flavor can be prepared.

In each of Examples 1 to 4, the content of methyl ketones was about 3000 ppb or more and about 8000 ppb or less, and the content of ethyl esters was about 60 ppb or more and about 200 ppb or less.
On the other hand, in the control products not using the mold culture, both the methyl ketones and the ethyl esters were lower than those in the example products. The example product had a characteristic aroma and taste not found in the control product, which was considered to be due to the difference in the amount of methyl ketones and ethyl esters produced.
Further, in the comparative example products containing mold mycelium in the mold culture, the methyl ketones are about the same as those of Examples 1 to 4, but the ethyl esters are from Example 1 to Example 4. Was about 2.5 to 8 times more, and it was considered that it was evaluated as unfavorable in the sensory evaluation because the balance between methyl ketones and ethyl esters was poor.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to provide cheese having a flavor similar to that of cheese on which mold has been grown, a so-called long eating period, and an excellent texture, even though there is no growth of mold.

Claims (3)

A mold characterized by containing one or more enzymes and aroma components derived from molds of the genus Penicillium or Aspergillus, and a milk-derived protein having coagulability, and containing little or no mold spores and mycelium. A cheese characterized by containing a culture and containing little or no mold spores and mold mycelium.
The content of methyl ketones is 3000 ppb or more and 8000 ppb or less, the content of ethyl esters is 60 ppb or more and 200 ppb or less, and the value obtained by dividing the content of methyl ketones by the content of ethyl ketones is 15 or more and 135 or less. The cheese characterized by. Gels or solids containing coagulable milk-derived proteins,
Using a filter that does not allow mold spores and mold mycelium to permeate,
A step of inoculating the mold spores on the filter so that the mold spores do not get mixed in the gel-like substance or the solid substance.
The process of culturing under aerobic or anaerobic conditions and
After culturing, the step of removing the filter and
A method for producing a mold culture containing little or no mold spores and mold mycelium. A method for producing cheese, which comprises a step of adding a mold culture produced by the production method according to claim 2.