The effect of caper on some quality characteristics of cheese during ripening of tulum cheese

Tulum cheese is considered amongs the most loved products in our country. Capers can be grown in our country, they are consumed as brine and used as an export product. The purpose of this study was to investigate aroma, taste, texture and the nutritional values that caper will add to tulum cheese during ripening, changes in the properties during storage, to introduce a new product process and to make tulum cheese a fuctional food for the consumer. The focus of study was to invesigate how powdered caper affected the physico-chemical, microbiological, textural and sensory qualities of tulum cheese. Experimentally produced tulum cheese was stored at +4°C for 90 days and analyzed at the day 1, 30, 45, 60, 90. According to the obtained results as the content of capers increased, dry matter ratios, pH values, tyrosin and free fatty acid values increased significantly (p<0,05). It was seen that the amount of fat in caper tulum cheese was low. From the microbiologic analyses it was concluded that aerobic mesophilic bacteria, lactococcus and yeast-mold counts were higher in tulum cheese than in control group. In the sensory evaluation held for the taste, smell, texture and color compared to caper cheese the control group had higher scores. In terms of sensory evaluation the group containing 1%capers was more appreciated.