Some Properties of Fresh and Ripened Herby Cheese, a Traditional Variety Produced in Turkey

Abstract

Herby cheese (Otlu peynir) is widely produced and consumed in eastern parts of Turkey, and is generally made from sheep milk. The objectives of this study were to determine some properties of fresh and ripened herby cheese samples. Samples (20 fresh and 20 ripened) of herby cheese were collected from retail markets in Van, and analysed chemically and biochemically. Higher levels of dry matter, salt, fat and titratable acidity (%) were found in ripened cheeses. Also lipolysis and protein degradation were higher in ripened herby cheese samples than in fresh samples. Urea-polyacrylamide gel electropherograms of ripened cheese samples showed that higher degradation of
αs-casein than of β-casein occurred.

Keywords

• herby cheese
• Otlu peynir
• urea-PAGE