EFFECT OF MICROORGANISMS ON FREE AMINO ACID AND FREE D-AMINO ACID CONTENTS OF VARIOUS DAIRY PRODUCTS

Abstract

Free amino acid and free D-amino acid contents of milk samples with different microorganism numbers and composition of dairy products produced from them were examined. Total microorganism number of milk samples examined varied from 1.25x106 to 2.95x106. It was established that concentration of both free D-amino acids and free L-amino acids increased with an increase in microorganism number. However, increase in D-amino acid contents was higher considering its proportion. There was a particularly significant growth in the microorganism number range from 1.5x106 to 2.9x106. Based on analysis of curds and cheese samples produced using different technologies we have come to the conclusion that for fresh dairy products and for those matured over a short time there was a close relation between total microorganism number and free D-amino acid and free L-amino acid contents. At the same time it was found that the ratio of the enantiomers was not affected by the total microorganism number. For dairy products, however, where amino acid production capability of the microbial cultures considerably exceeds, production of microorganisms originally present in the milk raw material, free amino acid contents of the milk product (both D- and L-enantiomers) seem to be independent of the composition of milk raw material.

Keywords

• D-amino acids
• free amino acids
• dairy products
• microorganism number
• milk
• cheese