Qualidade de queijo coalho comercializado em Manaus, AM

Abstract

The production of coalho cheese represents an activity of social, economic and cultural importance for several regions of Brazil. In the microregion of Manaus, located in the North region of Brazil, this type of cheese has great popularity. However, its manufacture does not have appropriate technology to improve quality, there is no standardization in the process of elaboration, and the use of raw milk is common, which endangers the health of consumers. The objective was to evaluate the microbiological and physicochemical quality of coalho cheese marketed in the city of Manaus-AM. Forty samples were analyzed, being 20 from street markets, not inspected by government agencies, and 20 from supermarkets, inspected. Microbiological analysis were Aerobic plate count; Yeast and mold count; Coagulase positive staphylococci count; Most Probable Number of thermotolerant coliforms and Salmonella spp. isolation. Physicochemical quality was evaluated by the following parameters: product exposure temperature, pH, titratable acidity, moisture, fat, fat in dry extract, ash, and protein. The microbiological analysis showed differences (P<0.05) for psychrotrophic microorganisms, yeasts and molds, staphylococci and coagulase-positive staphylococci with higher counts observed in cheeses obtained from street markets. It was not observed differences for mesophilic microorganisms and thermotolerant coliforms regarding the origin of the samples. Regarding physicochemical results, differences (P<0.05) occurred for all variables analyzed, except for Fat in dry matter and Protein content. Coalho cheese commercialized in Manaus has physicochemical quality in accordance to the law and the origin of the cheese did not influence its content percentages. This product represents a microbiological risk for consumers and street market not inspected cheeses represents a higher risk than supermarket inspected cheeses. Microbiological quality of coalho cheese commercialized in Manaus must be improved to better fit legal limits.