Cheese can be considered as a paracasein network including fat and aqueous
phases. Changes in the composition of the aqueous phase reflect the enzymat
ic and physico-chemical phenomena that occur in cheese during ripening. For
the first time, juice was expressed by pressing from Camembert cheese ripe
ned up to 16 d and analysed in addition to the cheese to evaluate the exten
t of proteolysis together with the solubilisation of minerals. The amount o
f expressable juice decreased sharply during ripening, i.e. from 67 to 19%
of the total water content for cheeses ripened 0 and 16 d, respectively. In
parallel, the levels of pH 4.6-soluble nitrogen and non-protein nitrogen i
ncreased in the whole Camembert cheese; the increase was higher in the juic
e. Simultaneously, the concentration of organic phosphate in the juice incr
eased with concomitant decreases in the concentrations of calcium and inorg
anic phosphate. This last observation suggests that salt precipitates at th
e surface of the cheese. The expression and subsequent analysis of juice fr
om Camembert cheeses is an appropriate method for following the sequential
action of proteolytic enzymes and mineral transfer that occur during ripeni
ng. (C) Inra/Elsevier, Paris.