Experimental designs for studying the influence of the raw milk flora on cheese characteristics: A review

To study the influence of native milk flora on the flavour and texture of raw milk cheese it is necessary to produce milk without its native flora. Three procedures to eliminate native flora from milk can be discerned from the literature: aseptically drawn milk, heat treatment of whole milk and physical treatment of skim milk with subsequent addition of the heat treated cream. The advantages and disadvantages of these three approaches are discussed.