Home > News Archive > February 2004

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Blue Mould Cheese
by Egon Skovmose on Saturday, February 21, 2004

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Penicillium roqueforti:

Penicillium roqueforti is applied in the production of blue mould cheeses or Edelpilz and fulfills the following important functions:

- it makes the typical bluish-green mottling in the cut of the cheese,
- it simultaneously restricts the possibility of foreign mould growth considerable,
- it has an important influence on the development of the typical piquant taste of the creamy consistency of the cheese due to enzymes which develop during its growth.

Further information regarding instructions for applying P. roqueforti can be found by contacting Danlac (spec. sheets).

The ripening of blue mould cheese is a very complex process. Proteolyses and lipolysis, which are caused by the growth of P. roqueforti, plays an essential part in the ripening process.
The breakdown of proteins in cheese by proteolytic enzymes is especially significant for the texture and organoleptic quality of the cheese.

Insufficient proteolysis leads to a hard, crumbly cheese or to cheese with a tough texture.

Excessive proteolysis result in overly soft cheese which binds water poorly and often in loose moisture in the package or on the cut of the cheese.

In addition,such cheese frequently has a bitter aftertaste.

The breaking down of fat trough lipolysis is often essential importance for the development of the typical taste and flavour. The free fatty acids resulting are themselves flavour formers. They are broken down into methyl keytones, which play a major role in the complex of the flavour forming substances in blue mould cheeses.

You will find blue mould cheese cultures in our web store

www.danlac.com/store

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