Comparison of biogenic amine levels between herbal cheeses ripened in dry salting (tradiotanal) and brine techniques

In this study, we aimed to compare biogenic amine levels between Herby cheeses (Otlu peynir) ripened in dry-salting/filling (basma) and brine (salamura) techniques. For this purpose, 100 samples of herbal cheese ripened by dry-salting and brine-salting techniques (50 dry-salted and 50 brine-salted) and were purchased from Van market for determination of their chemical and biochemical properties, and biogenic amine contents. The mean chemical composition for herbal cheese ripened by dry-salting method were: pH 4.62±0.33, acidity 1.50±0.43 %, salt 7.85±2.37 %, dry matter 59.07±5.76 %, fat 27.00±4.63 %, protein 23.39±3.39 % and proteolysis 100.92±31.27 mM; while for brine-salting method were: pH 5.16±0.62; acidity 1.08±0.6 %, salt 7.15±1.57 %, dry matter 49.22±8.07 %, fat 23.43±9.61 %, protein 17.17±2.96 % and proteolysis 79.57±38.82 mM. While the pH was statistically lower in the cheese ripened in dry-salted group than the brine-salted group, the protein, dry matter, acidity and fat content were higher (p<0.05). In addition, only the tyramine levels were significantly higher in the dry-salted group than the brine-salted group (about 2 times higher) (p<0.001). In terms of other biogenic amines, no significant difference was found between the two groups (p>0.05). In conclusion, none of the biogenic amines levels measured in Herby cheeses prepared by both techniques were above the level considered to be dangerous for health. However, the tyramine level shown in this study was two times higher in dry salted Herby cheese group than the brine-salted group. More detailed research is needed to determine the importance of this finding in terms of health. Keywords: Biogenic amine, Brine-salting, Dry-salting, Herby cheese