Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
18. The Use of Salt-Tolerant Lactic Acid Bacteria in the Production of White
Boiled Cheese (1996)
Anas A. Al-Nabulsi\ University of Jordan
Supervisor: Dr. Mohammed Isam Yamani
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Malik Haddadin
None of the 26 different commercial dairy lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures
examined in this study were able to grow well in non fat dry milk (NFDM) containing
sodium chloride (NaCl) at concentrations >3%. So these cultures could not be used in
processing of Nabulsi cheese, because of the high salt concentration found in the
cheese after short time of brining.
Salt tolerant LAB able to grow in NFDM with 5% NaC1 were isolated from cow
and sheep milk samples obtained from local dairy farms in Jordan. It was possible to
isolate 16 salt tolerant LAB from the 15 cow milk samples. These were Enterococcus
pseudoavium (4), E. faecalis (3), E. durans (2), Lactococcus lactis sub sp. lactis (4),
Lacto garivae (2), and Lactobacillus casei sub sp. Rhamnosus (1).
It was possible to isolate 14 tolerant LAB from the 10 sheep milk samples. These
were E. hiare (4), E. durans (2), E. pseudoavium (1), E. faecium (2), E. avium (2), L.
casei sub sp. pseudoplantarum (2), and L. sharpeae (1). E. faecalis, Lacto lactis sub
sp. lactis and L. casei subs sp. rhamnosus which were isolated from cow milk and E.
faecium, E. durans and L. casei sub sp. pseudoplantarum which were isolated from
sheep milk were the most active salt tolerant LAB when grown in NFDM containing
5% NaC1, as proved by their ability to lower the pH. Therefore these cultures were
selected to be used as starter cultures in making Nabulsi cheese by the traditional
method.
The Nabulsi cheese was made from sheep milk (original pH 6.6) to which 1%
(v/v) of the above mentioned LAB were added to the pasteurized cheese milk (63°C
for 30 min). A control cheese was made without the addition of starter culture. Sensory
evaluation was conducted after 1 and 2 weeks using the hedonic scale. After 1 week
there was no significant differences between the different cultures and control and L.
casei sub sp. pseudoplantarum gave the highest acceptability score and being
significant (p