Siahmazgi cheese is one of the traditional cheeses in Iran, which is produced from ewe’s milk or a mixture of ewe and goat’s milk 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 conditions which cause distinct physicochemical, and textural characteristics. This kind of cheese has an extremely firm texture with some pea-sized holes, a yellowish appearance, and a fermented taste. Despite Siahmazgi cheese has long production tradition in Iran, there is no published data on the characterization of this kind of traditional Iranian cheese. Its high quality, special taste, and firm texture have made it hugely popular among regional consumers.
The origin of this product belongs to a rural area in the Siahmazgi village, suburbs of Shaft, Guilan province-Iran (northern Iran). Still, the main province producing these products is Zanjan province-Iran (northwestern Iran). According to the health guidelines of the Iran Food and Drug Administration (IFDA, 2014), the cheese should be kept in disposable polyethylene packaging for 3-4 months before distribution in the market.
Siahmazgi cheese was manufactured using traditional methods on farms as fresh raw ewe and goat milk (33 % goat milk and 67 % ewe milk from the morning and evening milking) were obtained from a local native herd in Rasht city, north of Iran. The collected raw milk was filtered through a filter cloth fastened tightly around a copper container 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. The coagulation process was carried out at 20±2˚C for 110-120 min.
Afterward, the coagulum was heated (48˚C for 30 min) under continued agitation to facilitate and accelerate whey removal. The curd was then transferred to a cloth bag for curd draining, and then it was manually pressed into spherical molds. To complete the drainage of the whey, the curd was left at rest at 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 to aggregate the whey proteins. Subsequently, the agitation was stopped to enable the whey protein aggregates on the surface. Then, the aggregates are cooked and separated from the residual serum phase by a cloth bag. Then, crystallized fine-grained salt was added to the serum phase which was used as brine to fill the sheepskin containers. The amount of crystallized fine-grained salt was 25 g/kg cheese blocks based on 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 manufacturing season, 10˚C in spring and 18˚C in summer) and a relative humidity of 80–90%.
According to the findings, the average pH is 4.3-5.1 and titratable acidity is 0.8. Furthermore, the results showed that the six-month ripened Siahmazgi cheese contained high dry matter values (60 g/100 g) and salt (5.65 ± 0.05 g/100 g). According to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) standards, siahmazgi is classified as extra hard and medium-fat cheese. All these characteristics depend on special storage conditions and ripening processes.
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 affect the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Coliforms, molds, and yeasts of Siahmazgi cheese, and change in these values led to increased microflora. In the studies, Salmonella spp. is not detected in Siahmazgi cheese samples at the end of ripening time.
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Reference:
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
