Estudo do tempo de maturação do Queijo Minas Artesanal do Triângulo Mineiro: análises microbiológicas e físico-químicas

Abstract

The State of Minas Gerais stands out in the production of cheese, with eight regions traditionally characterized as producing Minas Artisanal Cheese: Serro, Canastra, Araxá, Cerrado, Campo das Vertentes, Triângulo Mineiro, Serra do Salitre and Serra da Ibitipoca. The Instituto Mineiro Agropecuário (IMA), in February 2014 recognized the Triângulo Mineiro (TM) as the 6th (sixth) producing region of Minas Artisanal Cheese. The Minas Artisanal Cheese (QMA) is characterized by the use of raw milk in its manufacture and the addition of natural starter cultures known as "pingo". Following a simple, familiar and customary manufacturing process. Five producers in the TM region registered in some inspection service were selected by Emater. In the selected properties, samples of water, raw milk, whey, yeast and cheese were collected until 22 days of maturation during the rainy and dry season of the year 2021, to perform microbiological and physicochemical analyses. The water supply of the cheese factories and raw milk had good microbiological and physicochemical quality. The yeast serum had higher coliform counts than the raw milk samples. In the rainy season, the serum yeast had more acidity values. Higher coliform counts were observed in newly produced cheeses. The maturation step was efficient in reducing some microorganisms. Salmonella was detected in a sample of raw milk in the rainy season and in cheeses from a single producer after ten days of maturation, in the dry season. The Listeria genus was not detected in any sample of milk or cheese. Moisture contents, titratable acidity, pH, protein and mineral fixed residue of the cheeses were influenced by the season in which they were produced. Cheese from the Triângulo Mineiro region can be characterized as semi-fat and with low moisture content.