ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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Several cheese classifications are possible. Ottogalli (2000) proposed a classification of world cheeses into 8 classes and 45 families based on microbiological criteria. FAO proposes a classification according to the consistency of the paste (linked to the moisture content), the fat content and the main refining characteristics (see table in annex). This "Anglo-Saxon" approach, which groups cheeses according to a texture criterion, uses the terms "hard, soft cheese" also used in the European classification but with a different meaning. The European approach, more specific to Southern Europe, groups cheeses on the basis of technological processes.
This is the classification presented in this article, the most widely used in France.

Classification of cheese according to conservation criteria
All the cheese technology aims to transform milk, a very perishable product, into a much drier and acidic product, keeping much longer, namely cheese. It is based on two general principles of food conservation:
lower water activity (symbol a) obtained by partial concentration of milk dry matter by draining and salting. The lower the activity of water a, the more the growth of bacteria, yeasts and moulds is limited.
lowering the pH of the medium by producing lactic acid by fermentation of lactic bacteria. This acidification inhibits the development of a large number of alteration bacteria.
Remember that cheese is made in four main stages:
Coagulation: milk coagulates with lactic ferments and/or rennets;
Drainage: whey (or milk) is extracted more or less intensely from coagulum. This one retracts and hardens to give a pastey mass, the curd;
Salting;
Refinement (or maturation): the paste is transformed by the action of micro-organisms.

During the coagulation stage, pH can be affected by more or less the intervention of acidifying lactic bacteria. The coagulum obtained by the acid pathway is extremely friable and has only low syneresis (separation of the curd whey). This is why a large number of cheeses are produced by a mixed coagulation resulting from the combined action of the acidifying bacterial pathway and the enzyme pathway. But for each type of cheese, acidification must be carried out with caution between narrow limits, beyond which defects appear.

Drainage acts on the free body of water but does not interfere with the bound water that interacts with the constituents. There are several factors that can influence draining: slicing (the gel is cut to increase the exudation surface of the whey), brewing (agitate)