Siahmazgi Cheese

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Siahmazgi cheese is one of the traditional cheeses in Iran, which is producing from ewe's milk or a mixture of ewe

and goat's milks with a small amount of common starter, which means that the ripening process is carried out mostly by the natural flora of the milk during the storage for a few months. This kind of cheese is kept in sheepskin for six months under special condition which cause distinct physicochemical and textural characteristics. This kind of cheese has an extremely firm texture with some pea-sized holes, yellowish appearance and fermented taste. Despite the fact that Siahmazgi cheese has a long tradition of production in Iran, there is no published data on characterization of this kind of traditional Iranian cheese. Its high quality, special taste and firm texture have made it hugely popular among the regional consumers.

The origin of this product is belong to rural area in the Siahmazgi village, suburbs of Shaft, Guilan province-Iran (northern Iran) but currently the main province that produces this products is Zanjan province-Iran (northwestern Iran) and according to the health guidelines of Iran Food and Drug Administration (IFDA, 2014), the cheese should be keep in disposable polyethylene packaging for a 3-4 months before distribution in the market. 

Siahmazgi cheese was manufactured using traditional method on farms as fresh raw ewe and goat milks (33 % goat milk and 67 % ewe milk from the morning and evening milking) were obtained from a local native herd in region of Rasht, north of Iran. The collected raw milk was filtered through a filter cloth fastened tightly around a copper container in order to eliminate non-milk substances. Temperature of cheese milk was adjusted at 28±2˚C and 30 mL of natural stomach juice, from milking young lambs (came from the same flock of sheep), was added directly to the 10 L milk as the main coagulant and mixed well. Coagulation process was carried out at 20±2˚C for 110-120 min.

Afterwards, the coagulum was heated (48˚C for 30 min) under continued agitation to facilitate and accelerate whey removal. The curd was then transferred in cloth bag for curd draining, and then it was manually pressed into spherical molds. In order to complete the drainage of the whey, the curd left at rest in 16–18 ˚C for 15 h. After draining, the curd was taken out from the mold and crystallized fine grained salt was sprinkled on the surface of the cheese blocks to make the curd firm. 

In the meantime, the whey was heated (88 ˚C, 30 min), under continued agitation, in order to allow the whey proteins to aggregate. Subsequently, the agitation was stopped to enable the whey protein aggregates on the surface. Then, the aggregates cooked and separated from the residual serum phase by cloth bag. Then, crystallized fine-grained salt was added to the serum phase which used as brine to fill the sheepskins containers. The amount of crystallized fine-grained salt was 25 g/kg cheese blocks on the basis of the volume of whey. Later, the cheese blocks were placed in sheepskin containers where salted serum phase (18–20 % w/v) was added and then the sheepskin containers were packed tightly. Finally, the cheeses were ripened in a cottage (Siahmazgi village, suburbs of Rasht, Gilan province-Iran) for six months at an average temperature of 10–18 ˚C (depending on the cheese manufacture season, 10˚C in spring and 18˚C in summer) and at a relative humidity of 80–90%. 

 

According to the findings, the average pH is pH 4.3-5.1 and titratable acidity 0.8. Furthermore, the results showed that the six-month ripened Siahmazgi cheese contained high values of dry matter 60 g/100 g and salt 5.65 ± 0.05 g/100 g. According to the standards of Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), this kind of cheese is classified as extra hard and medium fat cheese. All these characteristics depend on special storage condition and ripening process. 

The contamination of traditional Siahmazgi cheese

The contamination of traditional Siahmazgi cheese was related to the flowing microorganisms like Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Coliforms, molds and yeasts were observed in cheese samples, and the correlation between the values of pH, salt content, and acidity. According to the findings, the measured values containing chemicals like percent of salt content and acidity effect on presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Coliforms, molds and yeasts of Siahmazgi cheese and change these values led to increased microflora. In the studies Salmonella spp. not detected in Siahmazgi cheese samples at the end of ripening time.

 

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Pars Anzim Dayan technical support sector

 

Farahani G, Ezzatpanah H, Abbasi S (2014). Characterization of Siahmazgi cheese, an Iranian ewe’s milk variety: Assessment of physico-chemical, textural and rheological specifications during ripening. LWT-Food Sci. Technol. 58(2): 335-342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2013.06.002

 

Fontan MGA, Franco I, Prieto B, Tornadijo M, Carballo J (2001). Microbiological changes in ‘San Simon’cheese throughout ripening and its relationship with physicochemical parameters. Food Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1006/fmic.2000.0351

 

Partovi R, Gandomi H, Akhondzadeh Basti A, Noori N, Nikbakht Borujeni G, Kargozari M (2015). Microbiological and Chemical Properties of Siahmazgi Cheese, an Iranian Artisanal Cheese: Isolation and Identification of Dominant Lactic Acid Bacteria. J. Food Process. 39(6): 871- 880. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.12298

 

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