Study of Mucor spp. in semi-hard cheese ripening.

A strain of Mucor spp. isolated from a fermented soybean food in central China was smeared on the surface of semi-hard cheese to investigate its role in cheese ripening. Cheese ripening indices showed increase by 3-4 fold upon ripening of cheese for 90 days. Electrophoretic studies revealed that caseins in the cheese were degraded gradually during ripening forming several low molecular weight peptides, especially of 14.4 kDa. Texture profile analysis and microstructure study of the cheese showed that the proteolytic activity of Mucor led to desirable texture development in ripened cheese. The study indicates that the strain of Mucor used in the experiment has desirable proteolytic capability for use in cheese system.