QUALITY AND TECHNOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS TRADITIONAL ‘’BIENO’’ CHEESE IN THE REGION OF MARIOVO, MACEDONIA

Abstract

“Bieno’’ cheese is an indigenous dairy product in Macedonia with autochthonous
traditional production technology which dates back from the Ottoman Empire. The
research includes and presents the results of the chemical composition and safety of
raw milk used for traditional production of ‘’Bieno’’ cheese, technology and
physico-chemical and microbiological quality of ‘’Bieno’’ cheese. The quality of
the milk samples was determined within the permissible maximum according to
data legislation. It is necessary to respect the hygienic-sanitary norms related to
cultivation, preservation and care of the milking herds, and with the right
technology of milking. After 45 days of ripening the researchers recorded the
average results for the following parameters of the ‘’Bieno’’ cheese: moisture
(38.63%), dry matter (61.37%), milk fat (26.89%), milk fat in dry matter (43.83%),
proteins (26.53%), ash (9.25%), salt (5.21%) and the average of yield (9.36%). The
research specified the microbiological quality of “bieno” cheese after 45 days of
ripening in accordance with the special requirements of food safety regarding the
microbiological criteria. Nowadays, there is a growing interest of consumers for
cheeses produced with traditional technologies, usually based on handmade
production, characterized by piquant, unique and specific aromas, atypical for
industrial cheeses. The technology, physico-chemical and microbiological quality
could be used in the protection of the origin and geographical labelling based on its
unique technology. The data obtained serve as the basis for creating standardized
production procedures, leading to the uniform quality of these products.