Improving the Chemical and Sensory Properties of Cheddar Cheese Using Adjunct Cultures

Background: Dairy consumption and especially cheese consumption has been increasing in most countries of the world due to its favorable taste. European countries and the United States are the major producers and consumers of cheese. Due to the nutritional and economic importance of cheese, various schemes have been considered to increase its consumption and the most important of which is to improve its sensory properties. Several factors affect the development of cheese properties including chemical composition, residual coagulation factors, enzymes in milk, microbial flora of cheese and the storage conditions during the ripening stage, microorganisms in cheese especially lactic acid bacteria. Objective: Various methods have been studied to improve the sensory properties of cheese in the world and the most successful of which is the addition of adjunct culture. Adjunct cultures are a variety of selected microorganisms that are added to milk to improve the sensory quality or to accelerate the ripening of the product. The major adjunct cultures are lactobacilli. Many studies show that Lactobacillus helveticusLH212 and Lactobacillus helveticus CNRZ32 are among the most desirable bacteria. Adjunct cultures are used in two ways: attenuated and live cultures. There are several methods for preparing attenuated cultures, but most researchers focus on physical methods such as heat shock, freezing shock and spray drying. Conclusion: The purpose of this article is to express the role of adjunct cultures (types of Lactobacilli) in the sensory properties of cheddar cheese, selection criteria, and the amount, and time of adding adjunct cultures in the cheese-making process.