Substitution Effect of the Mesophilic Lactic Starter by the Thermophilic Ones on The Contamination of Standard Soft Cheese Camembert by Mucor sp

Abstract

Cheeses of the Camembert type were ripened at 12°C while varying the mesophilic lactic starter by the thermophilic ones and the relative humidity (85 and 95%) during ripening. The effect of these variations on the evolution of the Mucor sp flora, pH and dry extract were studied. The ripened cheeses at 12°C/95 RH% were contaminated definitely by Mucor and the contents of dry extract were much weaker than those at 12°C/85RH%. Highly significant effects (p<0.01) of the substitution of the starter and relative humidity were observed on the evolution of parameters; pH, dry extract and flora of Mucor. A negative but significant correlation (p<0.05) between the evolution of the dry extract and the Mucor for the samples ripened to 12°C/85 RH% were also noted.