Abbas Khodamoradi Dashtaki

Citation

Thesis Title
Determining the structure of mature cheeses in relation to the degree of hydrolysis resulting from bacterial fermentation that occurs prior to the curd formation

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Cheese ripening is an important step in development of characteristic texture and flavour of most cheese varieties. Hydrolysis of proteins is a major pathway in ripening. Cheese starter bacteria are known to be key contributors in this process. However, the effects of these bacteria are confounded with other participants and inevitable pH change during cheesemaking, on the other hand, makes this field of study even more complicated. In an attempt to assess the merely effects of cheese starter bacteria, Mr Khodamoradi Dashtaki designed a novel pH-stat system for long fermentation of cheese-milk to assess the bacterial activity in absence of other confounded participants. His results provided valuable insight on the protein hydrolysis pattern of cheese-milk as a result of starter bacterial activity. The textural attributes of curd formation and texture and microstructure of resultant cheese were also determined to be manipulated by the extent of bacterial activity prior to curd formation.

Supervisors
Professor Steve Flint
Dr James Harnett
Mr Rod Bennett
Dr Alistair Carr