Abstract
Ras cheese is the main Egyptian hard cheese that is well-known worldwide. Herein, we investigated how different salting techniques affect the physio-chemical properties, sensory properties, and volatile compounds of Ras cheese over a six-month ripening period. Five Ras cheese treatments were made from pasteurized cow's milk using various salting techniques: traditional salting of Ras cheese, salting by applying all of the salt to the curd after the entire whey drainage, salting by applying all of the salt to the curd after half to two-thirds of the whey drainage, salting in a brine solution for 24 h without dry salting, and salting in a brine solution for 12 h and then dry salting. The obtained results by GC-MS recorded that thirty-eight volatile compounds were identified in Ras cheese treatments after six months of ripening, and the development of volatile compounds was affected by the salting technique as well as the ripening period of the cheeses, which played a major role in the type and concentration of volatile compounds. Results revealed that there are six esters, 15 fatty acids, five ketones, two aldehydes, four alcohols, and eight other compounds identified in most treatments. Some physio-chemical characteristics and sensory properties were found to have high correlations with the storage period, while some others have low correlations during the ripening period.