Utilization of freeze‐shocked lactobacilli for enhancing flavour development of Ras cheese

Freeze‐shocked cultures of Lactobacillus helveticus or Lactobacillus casei were added at levels of 1% and 2% to Ras cheese milk prior to renneting as an adjunct starter to enhance flavour development of cheese. These additives did not affect the gross chemical composition of the cheeses but increased the formation of soluble nitrogenous compounds, free volatile fatty acids, the flavour intensity and improved the body characteristic. Also, the counts of bacterial groups (total, proteolytic and lipolytic) of the cheese treated with freeze‐shocked lactobacilli were higher than in the control. Moreover, the ripening period was reduced to be 2 months compared with 4 months required for the control cheese. Also, using freeze‐shocked culture of L. helveticus was the most effective in this respect.