Malt extract for enhancing flavour development of ultrafiltered Domiati cheese

Ultrafiltered (UF) retentate was used in the manufacture of Domiati cheese, and the effectiveness of malt extract at levels of 0.025\%, 0.05\% or 0.075\% in accelerating flavour development in UF Domiati cheese was evaluated. The results indicated that untreated UF Domiati cheese had higher moisture, fat and total N, and lower salt, acidity and proteolysis, than conventional Domiati cheese. There were no significant differences in lipolysis or bacterial counts between the conventional and untreated UF Domiati cheeses. Addition of malt extract slightly increased the moisture and acidity, but did not affect the fat, total N or salt content of the resultant cheeses. Malt extract-treated UF Domiati cheeses showed significantly higher proteolysis, lipolysis and bacterial counts compared with the other cheeses. This was more pronounced with the increase in the malt extract added to UF milk. Conventional Domiati cheese was organoleptically better than UF Domiati cheese without additives. However, incorporation of malt extract into UF Domiati cheese greatly enhanced the flavour development and improved the body and texture characteristics of the cheese. UF Domiati cheese with added malt extract (0.075\%) was significantly higher in quality after 2-4 weeks of pickling than were the other cheeses. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.