Proteolysis in Hispanico cheese manufactured using a mesophilic starter, a thermophilic starter, and bacteriocin-producing Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis INIA 415 adjunct culture

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis INIA 415, a strain harboring the structural genes of bacteriocins nisin Z and lacticin 481, was used as adjunct culture in the manufacture of Hispanico cheese with a mesophilic starter and a thermophilic starter of high aminopeptidase activity. Addition of the bacteriocin producer promoted early lysis of mesophilic and thermophilic starter bacteria. Extracellular aminopeptidase activity in 7-day-old cheese made using mesophilic and thermophilic starters plus bacteriocin producer was 3.0-fold the level reached in cheese made without the bacteriocin producer. Proteolysis in cheese made with mesophilic and thermophilic starters plus bacteriocin-producing adjunct culture after 25 days of ripening was 1.5-fold the level reached in cheese made without the bacteriocin producer, and the level of total free amino acids was 2.9-fold the level found in cheese made without the bacteriocin producer. Cheese made with mesophilic and thermophilic starters plus bacteriocin producer received the highest scores for flavor quality and flavor intensity and reached in 25 days the flavor intensity score of a 75-day-old cheese made without the bacteriocin producer.