BETA-CASEIN-C AND BEAUFORT-TYPE CHEESE TE XTURE AND QUALITY

Fifteen cooked curd type cheeses were made at a laboratory scale with individual milk samples of Tarentaise cows (a local mountain breed) ei ther with beta-casein CC (beta-Cn C) or with AA (beta-Cn A) genotypes, using a technology as close as possible to the Beaufort-type cheese m aking. The small cheeses (about 220 gl were ripened 8 weeks at 12 degr ees C. Proteolysis, structure, texture, and flavour of the two types o f cheese (beta-Cn C or beta-Cn A) are compared. beta-Cn C cheeses have a lower fat content and an irregular structure (as seen by electron m icroscopy) and thus, have a firmer and less elastic texture than beta- Cn A cheeses. We found, in the small cheeses, differences in the hydro lysis of beta-Cn by plasmin in relation with the biochemical structure of the C variant: the breakdown kinetics are slower (proportion of ga mma(1) fraction) and hydrolysis products are different. It ensues that beta-Cn C cheeses have a specific flavour and in particular, are more often noted spicy (P = 0.13) than the beta-Cn A cheeses, by the panel of the sensory analyses. Thus, the C variant of beta-Cn, and particul arly, the Tarentaise breed of cows mentioned in the decree of Appellat ion d'Origine, gives a specificity to Beaufort cheese.