Microbiological and Chemical Properties of Cheese Helva Produced in Turkey

Abstract

In this study, the microbiological and chemical properties of Cheese helva, one of the tradi- tional cheeses varieties produced in Turkey, was studied. This cheese is called Cheese helva since it is produced from wheat flour and milk cream. Samples were randomly collected from different villages in the Erzurum province of Turkey. The average of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB), yeast and mould, yeast, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), proteolytic bacteria, and lipolytic bacteria were determined 4.9 × 107, 6.4 × 104, 3.5 × 103, 7.6 × 106, 4.6× 103, and 8.6 × 103 cfu/g, respectively. 44.44% of the Cheese helva samples had no coliform; the samples that were positive for coliform showed an average of 5.1 × 103 cfu/g. Staphylococcus aureus was found < 10 cfu/g in analyzed samples. The Cheese helva was characterized by dry matter as 84.32 kg/100 kg cheese, fat as 37.44 kg/100 kg cheese, pro- tein as 13.75 kg/100 kg cheese, NaCI as 0.58 kg/100 kg cheese, titratable acidity as 0.210%, pH as 5.30, ash as 1.49 kg/100 kg cheese, and carbohydrate as 38.56 kg/100 kg cheese. Cheese helva was found to have a high variation based on chemical composition. The microbiological tests revealed that there were high amounts of total bacteria, yeast and molds, molds, lactic acid bacteria, lipolytic bacteria, proteolytic bacteria, and coliforms.