Evolution of Qualitative and Quantitative Lipid Profiles of High-Pressure-Processed <i>Serra da Estrela</i> Cheese throughout Storage

Abstract

High-pressure processing (HPP) can be used as a nonthermal pasteurization technique to overcome microbial safety issues of the raw ewes’ milk Serra da Estrela cheese without negatively influencing its quality, in particular, the lipid composition partly responsible for Serra da Estrela cheese’s sensorial and textural attributes. The aim of this work was to assess HPP’s effect (600 MPa/6 min and 450 MPa/6 and 9 min) on the qualitative and quantitative lipid profiles of Serra da Estrela cheese during 15 months of refrigerated storage. Total triglycerides content (65–66 g TG/100 g) was similarly determined for HPP-treated (450 MPa/6 min) and control cheeses. Similar total contents of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids were reported for all cheeses during storage. A high total conjugated linoleic acid content (1.29–1.65 g FA/100 g fat) was quantified in all cheeses during storage; all cheeses revealed similar atherogenic and thrombogenic indices (~2.3 and ~2.6, respectively). HPP can be used to process Serra da Estrela cheese at conditions that assure microbial safety without influencing cheese lipid profiles.

Keywords

• high-pressure processing
• raw ewe milk cheese
• lipids
• free fatty acid
• triglycerides
• conjugated fatty acids