The effect of lipolytic Gram-negative psychrotrophs in stored milk on the development of rancidity in Cheddar cheese

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Abstract
Summary: The highest incidence of lipolytic activity among the psychrotrophic Gram-negative flora of commercial raw milks was found in strains ofPseudomonas fluorescensandPs. fragi.The lipases of all of the lipolytic strains remained wholly or partly active after heat treatment at 63°C for 30 min. Two of the strains tested further had lipases which retained 20–25% of their activity even when heated at 100 °C for 10 min. Cheeses made from milks in which strains or a single strain of lipolytic Gram-negative rods (GNR) had been allowed to multiply to > 107colony forming units/ml became rancid after 4 months even though the GNR had been killed by pasteurization. The rancidity was characterized by a soapy off-flavour in cheeses containing free fatty acid concentrations from 3 to 10 times higher than those in control cheeses made from stored milks with low counts of GNR. Strong rancidity could be reproduced by adding the culture supernatant of a pre-grown lipolytic strain, but not the washed cells, to milk and pasteurizing it immediately before cheese-making, demonstrating the extracellular nature of the rancidity-inducing lipases.