Camembert Cheese Research Paper

Camembert cheese originated in the Normandy region of France. Camembert cheese is an example of a surface mould-ripened cheese with a soft- consistency and a flat cylindrical form, measuring approximately 11cm in diameter and 2.5cm thick. Surface mould- ripened cheeses are characterised by the presence of Penicillium camemberti on the surface resulting in felt- like coating of white mycelia this mould is responsible for the distinct appearance, aroma and texture of the cheese.

Cheese ripening involves a complex series of biochemical and chemical events that give cheese its unique taste, aroma and texture. These characteristics vary in different cheese types and help aid the characterisation of the cheese types. Proteolysis is the most complex

Camembert and Brie). Soon after manufacture the surface of these cheeses becomes colonized by secondary microorganisms. Initially, Geotrichum candidum and yeasts grow, but they are soon followed by a dense growth of Penicillium camemberti and, particularly in artisanal cheese, low numbers of Gram-positive organisms similar to those of the surface flora of smear cheeses (McSweeney and Fox 2004). G. candidum and P. camemberti rapidly metabolize lactate oxidatively to CO2 and O2, thus deacidifying the cheese surface. As is summarized in Figure 2, deacidification causes a pH gradient to develop from the centre of the cheese to its surface and lactate diffuses from the centre towards the surface of the

As the pH of the surface of the cheese increases, calcium phosphate precipitates as a layer of Ca3(PO4)2, which results in a calcium phosphate gradient from centre to surface and the migration of calcium phosphate towards the surface. Reduction in the concentration of calcium phosphate, together with increased pH and proteolysis, results in softening of the interior, which is characteristic of mature Camembert-type cheese (McSweeney and Fox 2004).

Metabolism of lactate and the increase in pH at the surface of these cheeses has a major indirect effect on proteolysis by increasing plasmin action. Plasmin and residual coagulant are mainly responsible for proteolysis during the ripening of these cheeses as enzymes produced by P. camemberti remain at the surface and do not diffuse into the cheese to any appreciable extent (McSweeney and Fox 2004). However, small molecules, including flavour compounds, can diffuse through the cheese