New cultures remove cheese bitterness, Chr Hansen
Although the ingredients firm has previously launched cultures to improve the flavour profile of food products, the new Mild O range is specifically targeted for the cheese segment, Jamila Bouanda, a spokesperson for the company told DairyReporter.com.
The new cultures, which come in both freeze-dried and frozen formats, can be used in different types of cheeses, soft cheese, white brined cheese, quark and gourmet style continental cheeses made from milk blends, said Bouanda.
Acidification process
The mesofilic strains that are in the Mild O blends have been carefully selected among several hundred strains explained the spokesperson, adding that the primary reason for their mild flavour profile is the high content of ‘cremoris’ subspecies strains.
The culture blends slow down the acidification process which removes the risk of a brittle or hard cheese texture, said the firm. In addition to being salt sensitive, it added.
“This is an advantage to cheese producers who wish to avoid post acidification usually causing sour flavour notes in the cheese,” said Theis Bacher, marketing manager, Cheese Cultures, Chr Hansen.
“Using a ‘Mild O’ culture blend, producers can simply stop the acidification process at high pH and thereby avoid excessive sourness.”
Other benefits
As well as the culture’s bitterness reduction, the range can offer other functions, said Bouanda, according to the type of cheese.
These include a reduction in fermentation time, improved cheese flavour, the avoidance of flotation curd and an increased robustness system, she said.
Mild O is expected to gain solid footing in several markets and cheese segments within the next couple of years due to their "powerful mildness profile and versatile applications", according to Chr Hansen.
Introductory trials have shown that there is particularly great potential in specific Southern European gourmet cheese segments such as manchego and pecorino sardo, said the firm.
