Quality of Hard Cheese Made from Value Aded Organic Goat Milk

Products with added value are all those products which, in addition to requirements set by laws of food safety and quality, meet the additional requirements. The added value of products resulting from its higher nutritional and commercial value and very often involve products originating from organic production or products with geographical indications. Consumer knowledge of production values has increased exponentially and has fuelled a demand for healthy, quality products such as goats’ milk and cheeses. The single most important factor affecting cheese quality and yield is the composition of the milk, particularly the concentrations of fat and casein. Nutritional value of goat cheese derives from its energy value, content of essential fatty and amino acids, the content of vitamins, minerals and its digestibility. In this paper, organic goat milk and hard goat cheese were analyzed for fatty and amino acids profile. In addition, cheese was assayed for fat, protein, moisture, total solids, Ca, P, Mg and pH. The evaluation of the cheeses was performed to establish the relationship between quality and composition of milk and cheese. Obtained values for saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid content in cheese were on average 42.0, 54.4, and 3.60 %, respectively. Levels of glutamic, aspartic acid, lysine and leucine significantly increased in cheese comparing with milk samples. Mean values for fat in dry matter in cheese was 47.1 %, while for pH this value amounted 5:55.