Vol.

27, 2009, Special Issue Czech J. Food Sci.

Changes in the Mineral Content in Cheeses of Different

Compositions during 6 Months of Ripening

I. González-Martín1*, J. M. Hernández-Hierro1, I. Revilla2,

A. Vivar-Quintana2, I. Lobos-Ortega1 and C. González-Pérez1

1
Departamento de Química Analítica, Nutrición y Bromatología, Facultad de Ciencias
Químicas, 37008 Salamanca, Spain; 2Área de Tecnología de los Alimentos de la Universidad
de Salamanca en Zamora, 49022 Zamora, Spain, *E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The mineral content of cheese depends on the origin of the milk (cow, ewe, goat) and its ripening. In this
work the effect of different factors on the mineral composition and the correlation between minerals (Ca, Fe, Mg, K,
Na, and Zn) and the type of milk used are studied. The One-Way ANOVA procedure revealed that the effect of cow’s
milk was statistically significant on Fe, K, P, and Zn; goat’s milk was statistically significant for Fe and Mg, and ewe’s
milk was statistically significant for K. The effect of the ripening time was statistically significant in all cases, except
for Zn; the effect of the season was statistically significant for K, Mg and P and the effect of the year was statistically
significant in the case of K, Na, P, and Zn. The percentage of cow’s cheese was positively correlated with K and P; the
percentage of ewe’s cheese was negatively correlated with K, Mg, Na, and P and the percentage of goat’s cheese was
negatively correlated with Na, and P.

Keywords: mineral composition, cows, ewes, goats, ripening, cheese

Introduction texture of the curd and on them properties such

as stability to heat and the capacity of coagulation
The consumption of cheese is of great nutritional depend (Patiño et al. 2005).
interest, due in particular to its composition of Particularly, during cheese ripening some of the
micronutrients and especially minerals (Lucas et mineral salts may migrate from the central part
al. 2008). The mineral content of milk depends on towards the external layer of the cheese block or
numerous factors, such as: genetic characteristics, vice versa (Gambelli et al. 1999). Furthermore,
the stage of lactation, environmental conditions, changes in the composition and in physical-chemi-
the type of pasture, soil contamination etc. (An- cal parameters throughout the manufacture and
guita 1996; Gambelli et al. 1999; Park 2000; ripening of cheese are of great importance since
Cichoscki et al. 2002; Patiño et al. 2005). The they determine not only the nutritional value, but
heavy metal content of cheese is variable due to also the organoleptic characteristics and quality
factors such as differences between species, geo- (Prieto et al. 2002).
graphical area, characteristics of the manufacturing The aim of this study is to determine the effect of
practices and possible contamination from the different factors – milk composition (cow’s, ewe’s
equipment during the process (Moreno-Rojas and goat’s), seasonality, month of ripening, year
et al. 1994; Mendil 2006). on the content of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn in
The mineral compounds participate in the coagu- samples of cheeses of 16 different compositions
lation; influence the draining of the whey and the with known percentages of cow’s, ewe’s and goat’s

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milk made and monitored over a 6-month ripen- Statistical analysis. One-Way ANOVA procedure
ing period. The milk used was from two years and and Pearson’s correlation study were carried out
was collected in winter and summer. with the SPSS 13.0 for Windows software package
(SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). The effects of year, month
of ripening, season, cow’s, ewe’s and goat’s milk
Material and methods were evaluated. Pearson’s correlation coefficient is
a measure of linear association. This method with a
Samples and cheese-making procedure. To significance test (two-tailed) was used to evaluate
perform the present study a total of 227 cheeses the correlations between elements.
of known composition were elaborated and con-
trolled (Gonzalez et al. 2007). Bovine, ovine and
caprine raw milk were obtained directly from the Results and discussion
producers in Zamora (Spain). Cheeses with differ-
ent compositions were elaborated, prepared with Chemical composition – Changes in mineral
known, varying amounts of milk from cows, ewes content
and goats with percentages ranging between 0%
and 100%. These were cylindrical, with an initial Table 1 presents the minimum, maximum, mean
diameter of 10 cm and a thickness of 5 cm and and standard deviation for calcium, iron, phospho-
they were monitored over 6 months (at 0.2, 1, 2, rus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and zinc found
3, 4, 5, and 6 months), using one of the pieces at in the chemical analysis. The levels of calcium and
each time. phosphorus were more abundant in the cheeses
Analytical methods. The samples of ground of cow’s milk, results which do not coincide with
cheese are submitted to desiccation with a heater other bibliographical data which show that these
at 105°C for 24 hours. Once dry, they are ground two elements are found in similar quantities in
and submitted to mineralisation in a microwave milk from goat and cow and are more abundant
system measuring the composition in the resulting in ewe’s milk (Raynal-Ljutovac et al. 2008).
solution by plasma ICP-optical spectroscopy. The ratio Ca:P was 2.15; an elevated value com-
The mineralisation is carried out weighing 0.5 g of pared with those obtained by Park (2000) for goat
dry ground sample, later introducing it into a high cheeses and for cow cheeses (Prieto et al. 2002);
pressure capsule. In a first phase 5 ml of HNO3 (c) the ratio being close to 1.2 considered normal by
are added and a potential of 300 watts is applied Jenness (1980).
for 5 minutes. Once the sample is cold another The concentration of magnesium does not present
5 ml of HNO 3 (c) and 1 ml of H 2O 2 30% are added variations during the process of ripening and its
applying a potential of 300 watts for 7 minutes. The average levels of concentration (402.3 ppm) are in
sample is cooled to room temperature and made agreement with those found by Moreno-Rojas et
up to 100 ml with distilled water and conserved al. (1994), Cichoscki et al. (2002) and Herrera
at 4°C until its analysis with ICP. The process is et al.( 2006).
carried out in the Servicio de Análisis Químico The average concentrations of zinc (57.5 ppm)
de la Universidad de Salamanca (Spain). and iron (201.5 ppm) are above the average de-

Table 1. Chemical composition

Analyte N° of samples Minimum Maximum Mean SD

Ca (g/kg) 227 4.49 40.38 8.06 3.39
P (g/kg) 227 2.35 6.03 3.75 0.66
K (g/kg) 227 0.62 2.17 1.25 0.34
Na (g/kg) 227 2.76 13.92 7.93 2.52
Fe (ppm) 227 8.18 2706.6 201.5 362.1
Mg (ppm) 227 258 687 402 65
Zn (ppm) 227 18.9 401.8 57.5 40.5

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scribed by Park (2000) for goat’s cheeses. This that observed by Gambelli et al. (1999). With re-
could be related to the caseinic fraction (95% zinc gard to the seasonal variability, the cow’s cheeses
and 50% iron) as reported by Anguita (1996) and/ elaborated in winter present lower concentrations of
or with a possible contamination by the utensils sodium than the cheeses elaborated with goat’s milk.
and recipients used in the manufacture (Park 2000; In contrast to what occurs with cheeses elaborated
Cichoscki et al. 2002), which could increase the in summer, the highest concentrations of sodium
concentration of Fe and Zn. are present in cow’s cheeses and the lowest are
The amount of K shows great variability with present in goat’s cheeses.
the breed of the animal, with highest values in
cow’s cheeses and lowest in ewe’s cheeses. The
decrease of K with the ripening could be due to Statistical analysis of the data
the process of draining of the whey (94% accord-
ing to Cichoscki et al. (2002)) and acidification Table 2 shows the effects of the factors studied
(Almenara et al. 2007). The average content of by One-Way ANOVA procedure for the different
potassium 1.25 g/kg coincides with those described minerals at a level of significance of 95%. The factor
by Herrera et al. (2006). year shows a significant effect in the concentrations
The elevated concentration of sodium throughout of potassium, sodium, phosphorus and zinc. The
the ripening process with an average value of 7.93 g/kg factor month of ripening has significant effects
is principally due to the addition of salt during the in the concentrations of all the studied minerals
process and throughout ripening, coinciding with with the exception of Zn, a phenomenon which

Table 2. ANOVA

Effect Ca P Fe Mg K Na Zn
Year 0.809 0.000* 0.332 0.548 0.000* 0.000* 0.008*
Month 0.026* 0.000* 0.012* 0.000* 0.000* 0.000* 0.324
Season 0.099 0.000* 0.766 0.003* 0.000* 0.053 0.639
Cow 0.095 0.000* 0.015* 0.247 0.000* 0.534 0.045*
Ewe 0.454 0.313 0.074 0.236 0.000* 0.360 0.467
Goat 0.075 0.086 0.046* 0.000* 0.916 0.101 0.355

*significant effect at 95%

Table 3. Correlations between the mineral components

Calcium Phosphorus Magnesium Potassium Sodium Zinc

Level of significance
99% 95% 99% 95% 99% 95% 99% 95% 99% 95% 99% 95%
P Mg Ca K Ca Mg K Zn Ca
0.296 0.167 0.296 0.384 0.167 0.384 0.445 –0.168 0.142
Zn K P Na P Na
0.142 0.622 0.582 0.445 0.203 –0.168
Mg P
0.582 0.622
Na
0.203

Pearson Correlation Coefficient

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could be due to the different degrees of mobility at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) with Zn. Iron was the
of the different elements. only mineral not correlated with other minerals
The seasonality (winter/summer) has a signifi- in the study.
cant influence on the concentration of potassium, The correlations between the type of milk and
magnesium and phosphorus. The seasonal variation mineral concentration were evaluated and the
in the composition of the milk, as is known, is due results are shown in Table 4. The results revealed
to changes in the bio-availability and quality of the that the percentage of cow’s cheese was positively
pastures throughout the year and to an increase correlated at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) with K and
in the proteolytic activity associated to the age of P; the percentage of ewe’s cheese was negatively
lactation of the animal. correlated at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) with K and
The results show that in the cheeses elaborated at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) with Mg, Na and P, and
the percentage of cow’s milk has a significant the percentage of goat’s cheese was negatively cor-
effect on the concentrations of iron, potassium, related at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) with Na and at
phosphorus and zinc. The percentage of ewe’s the 0.05 (2-tailed) level with P.
milk has a significant effect on the concentra-
tion of potassium and finally the percentage of Acknowledgements: This study was made possible by funds
goat’s milk originates a significant effect on the from Projects CTQ2006-04383; SA 139A08.
concentrations of iron and magnesium.

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