Amino Acid Composition of Granules and Spots in Grana Padano Cheeses

Abstract

Amino acids concentrated in Grana Padano cheese in two different physical forms, granules and spots. The major amino acid in the granules was tyrosine followed in concentration by phenylalanine and glutamic acid. Composition of spots was predominantly leucine and iso-leucine with tyrosine essentially absent. Composition of the free amino acids in the granules differed from that in the whole cheese. Bacterial populations were much higher in amino acid localization than in cheese as a whole, suggesting that bacterial action is a major contributing factor to the phenomenon of amino acid localization. © 1974, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.