CHAPTER XIV 

 CHEDDAR CHEESE RIPENING 



FRESHLY made Cheddar cheese is hard, tough and elastic 

 and lacks characteristic cheese flavor. In this condi- 

 tion it is called " green/' unripe or not cured. Before 

 the cheese is ready to be eaten; it passes through a 

 complex series of changes which are collectively known 

 as ripening. In the ripening process the texture 

 becomes soft and mellow and the characteristic cheese 

 flavors develop. Cheese ripening must be considered 

 from two view-points, first, the changes taking place in- 

 side the cheese and secondly the outside conditions neces- 

 sary for ripening. Some of the chemical changes during 

 ripening are known, while others are not understood. The 

 different agents causing ripening, and the constituents of 

 the milk, will be discussed. 



231. Fat. Numerous investigations have been made 

 to ascertain what chemical changes the fat undergoes 

 in the ripening process. Suzuki, 1 in studying the fat, 

 found no enzyme capable of producing lactic acid or 

 volatile fatty acids. However, these acids were found 

 in increasing amounts during the ripening process and 

 after the lactose had disappeared. Acetic and propionic 

 acids reached a maximum at three months and then 



1 Suzuki, S. K., et al., Production of fatty acids and esters in 

 Cheddar cheese, Wis. Exp. Sta. Research Bui. 11. 



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