Effect of high-pressure treatment of 1 day-old full-fat Cheddar cheese on subsequent quality and ripening

Full-fat Cheddar cheese was high-pressure (HP)-treated (400 MPa for 10 min at room temperature) 1 day post-manufacture. HP treatment resulted in an almost 100-fold reduction in starter bacteria numbers and delayed growth of non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB). HP treatment had little or no effect on primary proteolysis in cheese, consistent with measured plasmin and chymosin activities, which were unaffected by HP treatment. The mean concentrations of total lactate and d(-)- and l(+)-lactate were significantly reduced in HP-treated cheese relative to the control cheese during ripening. HP-treated cheese also had significantly higher fracture strain and fracture stress values and significantly lower flowability than control cheese throughout ripening. HP-treated cheese had altered colour values and was discriminated from the control cheese by descriptive sensory analysis. Overall, the selected HP treatment of Cheddar cheese seems to be of limited value for acceleration of ripening and, in fact, may be more useful for arresting or slowing down ripening. Industrial relevance: To date there have been conflicting reports on the effectiveness of HP treatment in accelerating Cheddar cheese ripening. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of HP treatment at 400 MPa for 10 min at room temperature on a range of cheese parameters over a 180-day ripening time. The overall conclusion suggests that the selected HP treatment has only minor benefits for manipulating the functional and sensory properties of Cheddar cheese.