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BR-112021008276-B1 - METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING PASTA FILATA CHEESE, STRETCHED CURD OR PASTA FILATA CHEESE OR WHEY FROM PASTA FILATA CHEESE, CULTURE OR PARTS KIT, AND USE OF A GALACTOSE-POSITIVE STREPTOCOCCUS THERMOPHILUS STRAIN

BR112021008276B1BR 112021008276 B1BR112021008276 B1BR 112021008276B1BR-112021008276-B1

Abstract

METHODS AND CULTURES FOR MANUFACTURING PIZZA CHEESE. FIELD OF THE INVENTION. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing pasta filata cheese based on cultures comprising or consisting of 1) at least one strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus, as defined herein, or 2) at least one strain of Streptococcus thermophilus and one strain of Lactococcus lactis, and to a stretched curd or cheese produced by this method. The application is also directed to a culture or kit of parts comprising or consisting of a) a strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus, as defined herein, and b) strain(s) of Lactococcus and/or strain(s) of Lactobacillus helveticus.

Inventors

  • MIKAEL PIANFETTI
  • FABIEN BURET
  • Annie Mornet

Assignees

  • INTERNATIONAL N&H DENMARK APS

Dates

Publication Date
20260317
Application Date
20191030
Priority Date
20181030

Claims (15)

  1. 1. Method for making pasta filata cheese, characterized in that it comprises: a) providing or producing a curd, wherein said curd is obtained by inoculating and fermenting milk with 1) at least one galactose-positive strain of Streptococcus thermophilus, being the strain DSM32823 deposited in the DSMZ on May 29, 2018, or a variant of the strain DSM32823, or 2) at least one strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus and one strain of Lactococcus lactis; b) stretching the curd from step a) to obtain a stretched curd; and c) manipulating the stretched curd from step b) to finally obtain a pasta filata cheese.
  2. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said curd has a pH between 4.9 and 5.3 and/or a submicelle size of at least 5 nm.
  3. 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that step a) of producing a curd comprises: a1) inoculating milk with 1) at least one strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus or 2) at least one strain of Streptococcus thermophilus and one strain of Lactococcus lactis and optionally with a milk coagulant; a2) fermenting the inoculated milk from step a1) to obtain a curdled milk; a3) cutting the curdled milk from step a2), heating and stirring, to obtain a mixture of curd and whey; a4) draining the mixture of curd and whey from step a3), to obtain a curd.
  4. 4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the amount of Lactococcus lactis strain (or strains) inoculated is in the range of 50 to 80% w/w of the total amount of bacteria inoculated and the amount of Streptococcus thermophilus strain (or strains) inoculated is in the range of 20 to 50% w/w of the total amount of bacteria inoculated.
  5. 5. Method, according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the milk is further inoculated in step a) with a strain of Lactobacillus helveticus.
  6. 6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the amount of Lactococcus strain (or strains) inoculated is in the range of 35 to 70% w/w of the total amount of bacteria inoculated, the amount of Streptococcus thermophilus strain (or strains) inoculated is in the range of 20 to 60% w/w of the total amount of bacteria inoculated, and the amount of Lactobacillus helveticus strain (or strains) inoculated is in the range of 5 to 20% w/w of the total amount of bacteria inoculated.
  7. 7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the total amount of strain (or strains) inoculated into milk is at least 1.105 CFU/mL of milk.
  8. 8. Method, according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises washing the curd during heating and stirring in step a3).
  9. 9. Method, according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it further comprises grinding the curd obtained in step a) before stretching in step b).
  10. 10. Method, according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that the processing time between milk inoculation and the moment when a curd is obtained is less than 5 hours, preferably less than 4 hours.
  11. 11. Stretched curd or pasta filata cheese or pasta filata cheese whey, characterized in that it comprises 1) at least one strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus, being strain DSM32823 deposited in the DSMZ on May 29, 2018, or a variant of strain DSM32823, or 2) at least one strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus and one strain of Lactococcus lactis, in particular, a stretched curd or pasta filata cheese obtained by a method as defined in any of claims 1 to 10.
  12. 12. Culture or kit of parts comprising or consisting of a) a galactose-positive strain of Streptococcus thermophilus and b) strain(s) of Lactococcus and/or strain(s) of Lactobacillus helveticus, characterized in that said galactose-positive strain of Streptococcus thermophilus is distinguished by: i. its ability to reach a pH of 5.2 in less than 5 hours, optionally with an average acidification rate of at least 0.01 upH/min between pH 6.4 and 5.6, when inoculated at 1% (v/v) in an M17 oxoid medium supplemented with 30 g/L galactose and incubated at 43°C, in particular when tested by assay I; and/or ii. its ability to not excrete galactose when inoculated at 1% (v/v) in an M17 medium supplemented with 0.5% (w/v) lactose and incubated at 42°C, particularly when tested by assay II; or its ability to excrete galactose but consume the excreted galactose until completion within a maximum of 9 hours after being inoculated at 1% (v/v) in an M17 medium supplemented with 0.5% (w/v) lactose and incubated at 42°C, particularly when tested by assay II.
  13. 13. Culture or kit of parts, according to claim 12, characterized in that it comprises or consists of a strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus, strain(s) of Lactococcus and strain(s) of Lactobacillus helveticus.
  14. 14. Use of 1) at least one galactose-positive strain of Streptococcus thermophilus, being strain DSM32823 deposited in the DSMZ on May 29, 2018, or a variant of strain DSM32823, or 2) at least one galactose-positive strain of Streptococcus thermophilus and one strain of Lactococcus lactis, characterized by the fact that it is for making pasta filata cheese.
  15. 15. Use, according to claim 14, characterized in that at least one galactose-positive strain is used to produce a cheese whey that has a decreased galactose concentration compared to a cheese whey produced using a galactose-negative Streptococcus thermophilus culture, wherein said galactose-positive strain is distinguished by: i. its ability to reach a pH of 5.2 in less than 5 hours, optionally with an average acidification rate of at least 0.01 upH/min between pH 6.4 and 5.6, when inoculated at 1% (v/v) in an M17 oxoid medium supplemented with 30 g/L galactose and incubated at 43°C, in particular when tested by assay I; and/or ii. its ability not to excrete galactose when inoculated at 1% (v/v) in an M17 medium supplemented with 0.5% (w/v) lactose and incubated at 42°C, particularly when tested by assay II, or its ability to excrete galactose but consume the excreted galactose until completion within a maximum of 9 hours after being inoculated at 1% (v/v) in an M17 medium supplemented with 0.5% (w/v) lactose and incubated at 42°C, particularly when tested by assay II.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This application relates to a method for manufacturing pasta filata cheese based on cultures comprising or consisting of either 1) at least one strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus, as defined herein, or 2) at least one strain of Streptococcus thermophilus and one strain of Lactococcus lactis, and to a stretched curd or cheese produced by that method. The application is also directed to a culture or kit of parts comprising or consisting of a) a strain of galactose-positive Streptococcus thermophilus, as defined herein, and b) strain(s) of Lactococcus and/or strain(s) of Lactobacillus helveticus. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Until recently, most cheese produced in the United States was American cheese, such as cheddar. However, for several decades now, Italian-style cheese has become increasingly popular, with millions to billions of pounds produced each year. Mozzarella is the main representative of these Italian-style cheeses and is extremely popular as a pizza ingredient (pizza cheese). Thus, in recent years, the consumption of pizza cheese has dominated the consumption of American cheese. [0003] In order to keep pace with the rapidly increasing consumption of pizza cheese not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world, cheese manufacturers are under pressure to produce more and more pizza cheese. One way to increase cheese production—without investing in new production lines—is to decrease the manufacturing time of pizza cheese. Therefore, there is a demand for cheese producers to provide solutions to decrease the manufacturing time of pizza cheese without compromising the quality of the cheese and, in particular, the stretch characteristic of pizza cheese. [0004] Furthermore, cheese producers are increasingly concerned about the possibility of adding value to the whey produced during cheese making, both financially and environmentally. However, adding value to whey requires that the composition be suitable for the concentration and spray-drying stages, which is known to be especially difficult with pizza cheese whey. [0005] Finally, at the same time, pizza retailers and consumers from various countries expressed their preferences for pizza cheese that has reduced browning after cooking, that is, with fewer golden bubbles on top of the pizza. Several studies have shown that the browning observed on pizza after cooking is the result of several factors, including the presence of free oil (which impacts the number of bubbles), the concentration of glucose and galactose, .... Anbukkarasi et al. reported that galactose-fermented Streptococcus thermophilus (Gal+) strains can be used to reduce cheese browning on pizza; however, these strains still release increasing levels of galactose during incubation (levels that increase over time and become very high 8 hours after incubation). Therefore, Anbukkarasi et al. They reported the need to combine these Gal+ S. thermophilus strains with other strains known to ferment galactose, such as Lactobacillus helveticus [International Journal of Advance Research (2013): 1(5): 83-96]. [0006] The inventors studied several parameters related to the manufacture and cooking of pizza cheese, using 2 cultures: a thermophilic culture, used in pizza cheese, consisting of galactose-negative S. thermophilus strains (represented in this document by the commercial product SWIFT14) and a mesophilic culture produced from Lactococcus lactis strains (represented in this document by the commercial product MC70). They confirmed that, using a culture consisting of galactose-negative S. thermophilus strains, the pizza cheese contained a large amount of galactose (5.49 g/kg of curd, representing 86% of the total sugars; Figure 1 and Table 3) and provided a high level of browning after cooking (L value of 43; Figure 3); Furthermore, the amount of galactose contained in the whey was too high (greater than 0.4 g/kg; Table 5) to be ideally valued. In contrast, the inventors showed that the use of a culture consisting of Lactococcus lactis (MC70) strains (used in cheese technologies other than pasta filata cheese) provided acceptable results in terms of galactose in the curd (0.15 g/kg; Figure 1 and Table 3), browning after cooking (L value of 64-69; Figure 3) and galactose in the whey (0.26 g/kg; Table 5); however, the manufacturing time until a curd suitable for stretching was obtained was too long (approximately 4.5 hours), so this culture is not acceptable for pasta filata cheese products. [0007] The inventors also tested a combination of galactose-negative Lactobacillus helveticus and S. thermophilus strains (in a 50%/50% ratio). Although the amounts of lactose and galactose were lower compared to the use of the SWIFT14 culture, the browning after cooking was still too intense to satisfy consumer preferences (data not shown). [0008] None of these solutions studied by the inventors were acceptable to satisfy both cheese pr