INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTION TECHNOL OGIES ON SHELF-LIFE OF UNRIPENED PASTA FILATA CHEESES OBTAINED FROM PASTEURIZED MILK

Hygienic characteristics of fresh dairy products with a short period o f preservation are taking up at present far more importance. In the ca se of cheeses made from pasteurized milk the final hygienic quality is strongly influenced by secondary contaminations occurring during the technological process of production. A previous research allowed to re cognize possible points of contamination in the processing phases betw een salting in brine and packaging. The present work evaluates the eff ect of secondary contaminations on the length of the preservation peri od through microbiological determinations on cow's milk Mozzarella che ese packaged in different ways. The samples were partly hand wrapped u p with the procedure currently adopted by the dairy plant (A) and part ly drawn aseptically soon after cutting off, salted in sterile brine a nd wrapped up wearing sterile mask and gloves (B). All the samples cam e from the same processing cycle. Half the samples of groups A and B w ere stored at 4 degrees C and the rest was kept at 20 degrees C. The a nalysis at 0, 2, 4 and 7 days gave different values of microbial count s for each series of samples. Test B stored at 4 degrees C showed ever y time lower numbers of microorganisms for all the microbial groups ta ken into account, thus pointing out a method in perfect agreement with a longer shelf-life of the product.