The Effects of Microbial Transglutaminase (MTG) Enzyme Usage on Sensory Properties of Hatay Cheese

Abstract

Hatay Cheese is a kind of cheese produced in and around Hatay with its own shapes and sizes. In this study, the use of microbial transglutaminase enzyme was tried to improve the textural structure of Hatay cheese which is in fresh cheese class. Enzymatic modification of milk proteins by microbial transglutaminase enzyme has been applied in the production of half-fat Hatay cheese with different pre-ripening time applications and some sensory properties of the cheeses have been investigated such as external appearance, internal appearance, texture, odor and taste during 60 days of storage. In this study, four different Hatay cheese were produced as control sample (A), 30 minutes pre-ripening with enzyme (B), 45 minutes pre-ripening with enzyme (C) and 60 minutes pre-ripening with enzyme (D). When the sensory properties of the cheeses were examined, it was observed that the application of different pre-ripening time significantly affected the external appearance, internal appearance, texture and taste scores on the 60th day of storage (p0.05). The effects of different pre-ripening periods and storage time on the odor scores of the cheeses were not significant (p>0.05). Taste scores of cheese D were significantly affected by storage time (p<0.05). As a result of all sensory analyzes, it was found that the cheeses supplemented with MTG enzyme were more liked and the scores given to the cheeses increased as the pre-ripening period increased. As a result, the most admired cheese was D cheese.