Abstract:The mature characteristics of hard cheese ripening in 90 days separately at 4 ℃, 10 ℃, 20 ℃ were studied, and the change of soluble nitrogen content, microstructure, pH, free fatty acids, volatile compounds, sensory characteristics were investigated. The results demonstrated that the contents of soluble nitrogen, free fatty acids and volatile compounds were significantly increased by increasing temperature. Compared with hard cheese ripened at 4 ℃ for 90 days, the hard cheese ripened at 10 ℃ for 60 days and 20 ℃ for 30 days owned the same or more soluble nitrogen, free fatty acids and volatile compounds; furthermore, tiny difference of microstructures were found among the three conditions. Although 20 ℃ could accelerate hard cheese ripening to some extent, bad effects were found on volatile compounds and texture of the cheese. Therefore the best suitable temperature for elevating hard cheese ripening was 10 ℃.
