Effect of Milk Quality and Low Temperature Storage
on Cheese Y i e l d - A Summation 1
ABSTRACT
The effect of low temperature storage
and milk quality on cheese yield was in-
vestigated. Raw milk was stored at 5, 7.5,
and 10°C; grade A milk was stored for 6
to 12 d and manufacturing grade milk for
up to 6 d. At 1-d (manufacturing grade)
and 2-d (grade A) intervals, aliquots from
each treatment were pasteurized and
manufactured into cheese, and the result-
ing yield was compared with that ob-
tained on d 0 for manufacturing and
grade A milks, respectively. Each treat-
ment was terminated when stored milk
coagulated when pasteurized. Increase in
total bacterial count ranged from one log
cycle for high count manufacturing grade
milk to more than three log cycles for
low count grade A milk. Similar changes
were observed for proteolytic and psy-
chrotrophic populations. As stationary
populations were approached, essentially
all organisms were psychrotrophic, and
most were proteolytic and lipolytic.
Cheese yield was affected by initial
psychrotrophic populations and length
of time raw milk was stored. Recovery of
cheese solids decreased by approximately
.5% for manufacturing grade milk per day
of storage up to 4 d. Further storage in-
creased the loss of cheese solids, and loss
of cheese yield correlated with increase
in bacterial population. Yield loss ap-
peared to be due to exocellular enzymes
Received February 8, 1985.
' Published with the approval of the Director of the
Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal
Article Number 83-5-174.
2Department of Food Technology, Federal Poly-
technic, Bruchi, Nigeria.
1986 J Dairy Sci 69:649-657
C. L. HICKS, C. O N U O R A H , 2 J. O ' L E A R Y ,
and B. E. L A N G L O I S
Department of Animal Sciences
Un}versity of Kentucky
Lexington 40546-0215
causing breakdown of proteins and fats.
Protein degradation was accompanied by
increased moisture in the curd. Cheese
quality decreased as psychrotrophic
populations increased. After pasteuriza-
tion high count stored raw milk con-
tained enough psychrotrophs to dominate
the aging process, producing gassy un-
clean cheese. Stored milk cheese had a
weak body with bitter flavors typical of
that produced by heat-stable proteolytic
enzymes.
INTRODUCTION
Reduced yields and poor quality are prime
concerns of the cheese industry because of t h e
economic losses involved. Current techniques
for handling raw milk often result in high
psychrotrophic counts prior to cheese manufac-
ture, which may decrease cheese yield. Manu-
facturers receiving surplus grade A milk that has
been routed through a receiving station may be
purchasing milk more than 5 d old with bac-
terial populations approaching or exceeding
106 cfu/ml. Additional storage overnight prior
to manufacture only increases the psychrotro-
phic activity. Also, manufacturers purchasing
fresh high count cheese milk will have similar
psychrotrophic counts when milk is held
through cleanup periods or nonoperating days.
Because psychrotrophs grow logarithmically at
milk storage temperatures, the time milk may
be stored prior to spoilage is dependent upon
the initial milk quality (16, 29). As the statio-
nary growth phase is reached, the bacterial
population comprises essentially psychrotrophs.
Reduced yields due to psychrotrophs have been
reported in cottage cheese by Aylward et al. (4)
and direct acid cheese by Hicks et al. (13) and
Yan et al. (36). Other investigators (1, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,
20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36,
649
650 HICKS ETAL.
37) observed the proteolytic and lipolytic
activity of psychrotrophs or degradation prod-
ucts in milk, cheese, and whey. These studies
were undertaken to determine the amount of
yield loss and quality changes that occur in the
manufacture of Cheddar cheese from milk of
varying qualities stored at three temperatures.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Milk
Grade A milk was obtained from the Univer-
sity of Kentucky dairy farm immediately after
the morning milking. This milk was a combina-
tion of the preceding evening and current morn-
ing milkings. Therefore, the oldest milk in the
lot was less than 13 h old. The grade A milk
averaged 3.57% fat. Manufacturing grade milk
was from a route truck at a cheese plant located
within 45 km of the University. Manufacturing
grade milk was from a specified route truck
picking up milk on an alternate day schedule.
Therefore, the oldest milk in the lot was ap-
proximately 38 h old. Milk was from a single
route to reduce variability in the milk supply.
Manufacturing milk from this route averaged
2.2% fat, which suggested it had been adulte-
rated on one or more farms. All milk was
received at the University dairy and separated
into three lots, which were stored at 5, 7.5, and
10°C. Unstandardized milk was used to manu-
facture all lots of cheese.
Cheese Cultures
Frozen bulk set lactic cultures (Miles
Laboratory, Inc., Madison, W1) were used as the
culture source to set all cheese vats during these
experiments. Cultures LA2, KH, RGM, WP, and
MIL were assigned to each vat to reduce the
yield variation resulting from the use of differ-
ent cultures. Cultures were stored at - 4 0 ° C
until used. Fifty-one grams of frozen culture
were added to each experimental vat of milk.
Manufacture of Experimental Cheese
Cheese was manufactured daily from milk
stored at 5, 7.5, or 10°C until coagulation oc-
curred upon pasteurization. Milk was vat pas-
teurized at 63°C for 30 rain and cooled to 31°C
prior to cheese manufacture. Cheddar cheese
was manufactured from 181.8 kg of milk on
daily (manufacturing grade) and alternate day
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986
(grade A) schedules by the procedure of Wilster
et al. (33), except all manufacturing steps were
initiated when the pH reached the desirable
point. Whey was drained from the curd at pH
6.1. Matted curd was stacked two high at pH
5.8 and three high at pH 5.6. Curd was milled
at pH 5.4. Two percent salt was added to the
curd.
Analysis
Standard procedures (28) were used to
determine aerobic, psychrotrophic, and pro-
teolytic counts of raw and pasteurized milk
samples. Raw milk samples were taken from the
vat pasteurizer before the steam was turned on,
and pasteurized milk samples were taken prior
to transferring the milk to the cheese vats. Sam-
ples were refrigerated and plated within 4 h of
collection. Acid degree value (ADV), a measure
of hydrolytic rancidity, was determined by the
procedure of Thomas et al. (30).
Procedures of Wilster (33) were used for
determination of fat and moisture of fresh
curd. Cheese samples were taken as the cheese
came from the press and analyzed the same
day.
Analysis for protein (total nitrogen) in raw
milk, whey, and cheese was by micro-Kjeldahl.
Total nitrogen was multiplied by 6.38 to ob-
tain protein. All samples were frozen at - 2 0 ° C
until analysis. Sample sizes were 1.8 ml for milk
and whey and 74 mg for cheese.
Experimental Design
A split-plot design was used to study yield
losses under various milk storage conditions in
the primary experiment. The design was three
temperature treatments (5, 7.5, and 10°C)
times two milk qualities factorial in the whole
plot. The split plot contained batches of cheese
made from the stored milk, which were manu-
factured on a daily (manufacturing grade) or an
alternate (grade A) day schedule until coagula-
tion occurred during pasteurization. Three
replications of each treatment were conducted.
The data were analyzed by the following statis-
tical model:
Yijkl = /'/ + Ri + Qj + Tk + (QT)jk
+ W(ijk ) + D 1 + (QD)jl + (TD)kl
+ (QTD)jk I + E(ijkl)
 MILK STORAGE AND CHEESE YIELD
where:
Y = Yield, dependent variable,
/~ = Overall mean,
R i = Replication, i = i to 3 (random),
Qj = Effect of milk quality, j = 1, 2
(fixed),
Tk = Effect of storage to temperature,
k = 1 to 3 (fixed),
W(ijk ) = Pooled block × whole plot treat-
ment interaction,
D 1 = Effect of day, 1 = 1 to njk,
E(ijkl) = Pooled block × split-block effect
interaction.
Data were analyzed by the regression programs
of the Statistical Analysis System (27).
RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION
Milk Storage
The time milk could be stored before coagu-
lation occurred during pasteurization depended
upon the quality of the initial milk and storage
temperature (Table 1). Grade A milk with an
initial microbial population of less than 20,000
cfu/ml at the time of milking could be stored
for 9 to 10 d at 5°C before coagulation oc-
curred upon pasteurization. Storage time for
manufacturing grade milk was from time of
pickup at the manufacturing plant to the time
of coagulation. Because manufacturing grade
milk was delivered by a route truck on an
alternate day schedule, part of the route milk
was 38 h old at the time of pickup from the
manufacturing plant. This additional holding
time should be considered when viewing the
following data for manufacturing milk. In other
studies (16, 35, 36), additional storage time up
to 12 d could be achieved when initial micro-
TABLE 1. Influence of storage temperature on shelf-life of raw milk.
Milk quality
Grade A milk, averaged 1300 cfu/ml 1
Manufacturing grade, more than 104 cfu/mF
Initial total aerobic plate counts.
651
bial populations were approximately 2,000
cfu/ml. As expected, the time that milk could
be stored decreased as the storage temperature
increased from 5 to 10°C (Table 1). Other in-
vestigators (5, 37) have observed similar storage
times for various milk qualities. Therefore,
maximum times that should be considered for
storing raw milk before manufacturing cheese
are illustrated in Table 1.
Microbial Growth
Total, psychrotrophic, and proteolytic
counts are presented in Figures 1 to 3. Microbial
growth was logarithmic until maximum popu-
lations (108-109 cfu/ml) were approached, at
which time coagulation occurred during pasteu-
rization. Total counts on grade A milk initially
comprised 5 to 10% psychrotrophs but were
essentially all psychrotrophs by coagulation.
Most psychrotrophs were proteolytic. Manu-
facturing milk had high total counts that
initially contained 50% psychrotrophs. Psychro-
trophic growth continued to predominate to
the coagulation point. Because psychrotrophs
would be expected to cause most of the pro-
teolytic and lipolytic degradation in raw milk,
the high count manufacturing milk should
result in lower yields and poorer quality cheese
than low count milk. Heat-labile enzymes
would be active up to pasteurization, and heat-
stable enzymes would be active past coagula-
tion. Therefore, as enzymes are produced (5,
12, 19, 20, 22, 34), actual yield loss should be a
function of enzymatic activity from the time
they are liberated from the cell until milk solids
are converted into cheese curd. Cheese quality
would then be more dependent on the heat-
resistant enzymes, psychrotrophs, and spores
that survive pasteurization.
Milk storage time before
coagulation occurred
5° C 7.5° C 10° C
9 8 6
5 4 3
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986
652 HICKS E T A L .

TOTAL COUNT tioned. Although temperature probably

9 selected the dominant types of psychrotrophs
.1.o and the length of time that milk could be
stored (Table 1), little change in cheese yield
8 could be determined during the early to middle

jo// storage period.

Because enzymatic activity was similar at all
storage temperatures for manufacturing milk,
milk stored at the lowest temperature should
have had a higher protease and lipase concentra-
tion to show equal activity. Stored grade A
milk appeared to have protease activities simi-
lar to those described by Yan et al. (36) who
reported higher protease activities at higher
storage temperatures for high quality milk.
4 I I I I I I I i I
Because few or no differences were determined
0 2 4 6 8 I0 for the effect of temperature on cheese yield,
STORAGE TIME (days) the average of the temperature data will be
presented for all parameters discussed in this
Figure 1. Effect of milk storage time on total aero- paper.
bic count. ( e - e ) Manufacturing grade milk, ( o - o )
grade A milk. Each data point is an average of nine
observations.
Cheese Y i e l d

Gross cheese yield (weight of the cheese

Effect of Storage Temperature
Storage temperatures of 5, 7.5, and 10°C for
manufacturing grade milk did not significantly
affect the recovery of milk solids in cheese.
Evidently, psychrotrophic populations were so
great that milk coagulation occurred before
recovery differences could be distinguished.
Grade A milk showed significant differences
among yield losses at the temperatures men-
taken from the cheese press) increased with
milk storage time. The increase was reflected in
the moisture content of the curd (Figure 4),
but actual milk solids (dry matter) that entered
into the cheese mass decreased, as shown in
Figure 5. Gross cheese yield increased linearly
with raw milk storage time because manufac-
turing conditons were held constant throughout
the experiment; therefore, the additional bound
water was not expelled. In earlier work, Hicks

9[- PSYCHROTROPHIC COUNT PROTEOLYTIC COUNT

9
I ~ o
b S.' o .11.. o
LI.

°/I O
_J •J 5

5~1
~ / I I I I I I I I I 3 I I I I I I I I I I
30 2 4 6 8 I0 2 4 6 8 I0
STORAGE TIME (doys) STORAGE TIME (doys)
Figure 2. Effect of milk storage time on psychro- Figure 3. Effect of milk storage time on proteoly-
trophic count. ( e - e ) Manufacturing grade milk, tic count. (e--e) Manufacturing grade milk, ( o - o )
( o - o ) grade A milk. Each data point is an average of grade A milk. Each data point is an average of nine
nine observations. observations.

Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986

 MILK STORAGE AND CHEESE YIELD
50
45
J e o o
?_
(/)
4° q
35 i I I i I I I I i I
0 2 4 6 8 I0
STORAGE TI M E (doys)
Figure 4. Cheese moisture as affected by milk
storage time. (e -) Manufacturing grade milk, (o-o)
grade A milk. Each data point is an average of nine
observations.
et al. (17) suggested that proteolysis of casein
caused production of peptides that bind greater
quantities of water, thus increasing the mois-
ture content of the curd. Chapman et al. (5)
and Yan et al. (36) also noted an increase in
moisture content of the curd after the milk was
stored 3 d or more.
The type of psychrotrophs dominant during
milk storage probably determine the rate of
proteolysis and lipolysis. Earlier work (13, 23)
suggested large differences in cheese solids lost
among different genera of psychrotrophic
organisms. Nelson and Marshall (23) tested
their culture collection of psychrotrophic
organisms and observed that some organisms
would decrease yield and other, less proteolytic
ones had little or no effect on cheese yield.
Hicks et al. (13) noted that Pseudomonas
produced greater cheese losses than Bacillus
organisms. Law et al. ( 1 9 ) t e s t e d several Pseu-
dora•has organisms for their effect on cheese
yield and quality and concluded that little or
no changes would ocr.ur under commercial
conditions. Cousin and Marth (9) reported a
Cheddar cheese experiment where a specific
psychrotroph-inoculated milk gave a greater
cheese yield than control milk. However, these
data reflected a small shift in pH, which accord-
ing to All et al. (2), could have caused the in-
creased yield if the psychrotroph had little or
no effect on the yield. Therefore, the actual
cheese yield loss that might be encountered in
653
a particular plant would be dependent upon
those factors that preselect the type of psychro-
trophs present in the raw milk supply. The type
of psychrotroph that tends to dominate the
microflora in commercial milk is generally very
proteolytic and lip•lyric in nature (17, 19, 20).
Effect of psychrotrophs on cheese yield has
been observed in several other studies (14, 17,
18, 24, 36) in our laboratory over several sea-
sons using many different qualities of milk.
Although the solids of the manufacturing milk
in this experiment were extremely low, rate of
yield loss was similar to that reported by Hicks
et al. (14, 15, 18, 24) for manufacturing milk
with a normal solids content and equal psychro-
trophic count.
The effect of psychrotrophs on cheese yield
can be summed up as follows. 1) The lower the
initial bacterial count in the raw milk the longer
the storage time before cheese yield losses are
noted (see Figure 5). 2) Psychrotrophs that be-
come dominant in raw milk during storage are
generally proteolytic and lipolytic in nature
(17, 20). 3) Normally, yield losses have been
significant when total plate count or psychro-
trophic count reaches 106 cfu/ml prior to
pasteurization (see Figures 1 and 5). Therefore,
routine counts of raw milk in the receiving silos
should be taken to estimate yield losses under
current operating conditions. 4) Yield loss is a
function of protease and lipase activity and not
necessarily storage time (17, 36). Therefore,
larger yield losses would be expected in stored
~ 6.5
O~o~
~, 6.0 o.,,,
>'~ 5.5
Iv
"~ 5.0
~o.-...2~.
4.5 I I I I I
0 2 4 6 8 I0
STORAGE TIME (days)
Figure 5. Effect of milk storage time on yield of
cheese solids. ( e - . ) Manufacturing grade milk, (o-o)
grade A milk. Initial yield differences are due to
different total solid concentrations in the milk. Each
data point is an average of nine observations.
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986
654 HICKS ET AL.
low count grade A milk than high count manu-
facturing milk after the total count reached 106
cfu/ml in both milks. Because the grade A milk
takes longer to reach one million bacteria, there
is usually a higher enzymatic activity occurring
at this point in storage and a yield loss is
greater. 5) In all four major studies conducted
at this university a slight (not significant) in-
crease in cheese yield was observed for milk
stored 24 to 36 h (see Figure 5). This phenome-
non was reported by Ali et al. (2, 3) to be a
change in casein solubility during the initial
storage period due to /3-casein solubility as
affected by temperature and pH. Although Ali
et al. (2) did not report psychrotrophic growth
during milk storage, casein solubility decreased
with pH down to 6.6. Storage of high quality
milk where initial psychrotrophic counts com-
pose 10 to 20% of the total counts results in a
gradual decrease in pH overcoming the tempera-
ture effect and may cause the slight increase in
yield.
Protein Loss
Measurement of protein change is difficult
to monitor except that found in the whey as
total nitrogen. Whey total nitrogen increased
with storage time (P<.01). Whey total nitrogen
represents a composite of cellular nitrogen,
whey proteins, hydrolyzed casein and peptides,
and nonprotein nitrogen. When other types of
protein or nonprotein nitrogen measurements
are determined the information is relatively use-
less. Other researchers (4, 10, 21, 23, 37) have
observed similar increases in whey nitrogen
when psychrotrophs are present in stored milk.
Yan et at. (35, 36) noted that tyrosine equi-
valent correlated inversely with decreasing yield
and suggested this method for estimating yield
losses. The tyrosine equivalent increased up to
222% as yield losses were incurred.
Hicks et al. (17), Ali et al. (3), Chapman et
al. (5), and Cousin and Marth (7) have observed
that coagulation time increases with storage
time, and a softer curd is produced in milk con-
taining natural psychrotrophic microflora. Ali
et al. (3) reported that the change in curd
rigidity affected cheese yield. Cousin and Marth
(7) observed curd tension to increase with
storage time when a specific organism was
inoculated in the milk prior to storage. How-
ever, these observations probably reflect the
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986
type of enzymes being liberated, which were
not general proteolytic types expected from a
natural microflora. To compensate for the
changes in clot time and curd firmness, rennet
concentrations were adjusted in this study to
keep coagulation times between 25 and 30 rain.
This procedure should have reduced protein
losses due to other phenomena.
Fat Loss
Fat loss may be monitored as ADV in the
milk prior to cheese making and to some extent
as total fat within the cheese mass and whey.
Losses resulting from hydrolysis due to lipase
action are most easily monitored by deter-
mining the ADV of the milk prior to manufac-
turing cheese. Acid degree values increased
from 1.2 to 1.4 (manufacturing grade) and 1.0
to 1.7 (grade A) in the milk when fat decreased
within the cheese mass (Figure 6) as milk
storage time increased.
Rate of lipase hydrolysis is a function of
time and temperature in Cheddar cheese (20).
The action of these enzymes would be expected
to accelerate during ripening prior to coagula-
tion of the cheese solids. Therefore, the actual
ADV would be somewhat higher than those
reported here because the samples were col-
lected at the time that the milk was added to
the vat.
Prediction Equations
Cheese yield loss from high count manufac-
turing grade milk or milk of an undetermined
35
o-''----'o~ o~
A 30
1-
25,
20~ I I I I 1 I I I I t
2 4 6 8 I0
STORAGE TIME (days)
Figure 6. Effect of milk storage time on percent
fat in cheese. (e o) Manufacturing grade milk, (o-o)
grade A milk. Each data point is an average of nine
observations.
 MILK STORAGE AND CttEESE YIELD
age may be approximated for each day's storage
within the manufacturing plant from the fol-
lowing simplified formula:
-.368 (d)
Cheese yield loss - 6.1 [1]
Where d = storage rime (d) that the milk is held
in the manufacturing plant after receiving it.
Yield loss for low count grade A milk can be
approximated, assuming that the age of the
oldest milk in the farm bulk tank is known, by
the following formula:
.526 d - .16 (d) 2
Cheese yield loss = 6.1 [2 ]
Where d = the total milk storage time (d) of the
oldest milk in the receiving silo; e.g., from time
of milking to time of cheese manufacturing.
Formula [1] assumes milk is of poor quality
at the time it is placed into the receiving silo
and that sufficient degradative enzymes are
present to cause this rate of yield loss. A simi-
lar equation was determined in earlier work
(17) for manufacturing milk with normal total
solids. Therefore, formula [1] should approxi-
mate yield losses for poor quality milk of vary-
ing total solids. Surplus grade A milk that has
been shipped through a receiving station and
most manufacturing milk would fit the quality
criteria for using this formula. Milk with a
known storage history that is shipped directly
to the cheese plant is of sufficiently high
quality to estimate yield loss using formula [2].
However, manufacturers should be cautious
when using formula [2] if initial bacterial
counts are greater than 30,000 cfu/ml. In ex-
tremely high quality milk, Yan et al. (36) ob-
served that when initial bacterial counts were
less than 1,000 cfu/ml an extended lag period
was observed prior to any losses being noted.
Therefore, these formulas should be used as
practical guides to improve operating proce-
dures while estimating cheese yield losses.
Cheese Quality
Cheese quality as determined by two graders
decreased as storage time increased (Figure 7).
In all studies conducted in our laboratories (4,
14, 15, 17, 18, 24), cheese quality increased
slightly (nonsignificant) after approximately
655
1 d of milk storage. Cheese quality rapidly
decreased after this time. Cheese manufactured
from milk stored longer than 6 d were generally
gassy (Figure 8) with pasty body. Flavor
became fruity to extremely unclean with
increased bitterness. Many cheeses from milk
near maximum storage limits contained
bleached areas and areas with red discoloration,
indicating the presence and dominance of
specific organisms. McKinnon and Pettipher
(22) reported and Collins (6) reviewed the sur-
vival and growth of spore-forming psychro-
trophs capable of causing these changes. Yan et
al. (35) reported that pasteurization decreased
the total count by 3 to 4 log cycles. Therefore,
when the psychrotrophic counts are greater
than 106 sufficient vegetative cells, spores and
heat stable enzymes are present to dominate
the aging process. In addition, heat stable
enzymes were probably responsible for the
pasty textures and development of bitter fla-
vors. Several researchers (5, 20) have suggested
that curd retains enough heat stable lipases and
proteases from psychrotrophs in heavily con-
taminated milk to affect the body and texture
of the cheese during aging and cause quality
lOSSeS.
Economic Losses
The equation for calculating yield losses
from manufacturing milk suggests that .6% of
the maximum yield is lost per day of low tem-
perature storage. Cheese plants that store milk
I0
DE
\,
8 ~ o
I 1 I I I t 1 I 1 I
0 2 4 6 s i0
STORAGE TIME (days)
Figure 7. Effect of milk storage time on cheese
quality at 30 d of age. (o-o) Manufacturing grade
milk, (o-o) grade A milk. Each data point is an aver-
age of nine observations from two graders.
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986
656 HICKS ET AL.
Figure 8. Effect of milk storage time on cheese
texture at 6 mo of age.
for an additional day before manufacturing
cheese would lose 8.7¢/cwt assuming a cheese
price of $1.45/lb (.454 kg) and a moisture con-
tent of 39%. Using the formula for high quality
milk, yield loss from surplus grade A milk
stored and transported for 5 d would be .2 lb
(.09 kg) cheese/cwt and a loss of 29~/cwt milk
handled.
Manufacture Recommendations
Some general management practices that will
reduce or eliminate cheese yield losses are to:
1. Reduce milk storage time.
2. Encourage production of higher quality milk,
and rapid cooling.
3. Pick up milk daily if herd size is large enough
to warrant it.
4. Store milk at 2°C.
5. Reduce ripening time when practical.
6. Ship surplus grade A milk directly to the
cheese manufacturing plant.
7. Do not contaminate storage silos containing
high quality, low count milk with high count
surplus grade A milk.
CONCLUSIONS
The effect of low temperature storage and
milk quality on cheese yield was investigated.
Raw milk was stored at 5, 7.5, and 10°C; grade
A for 6 to 12 d; and manufacturing grade for
up to 6 d. At 1-d (manufacturing grade) and 2-d
(grade A) intervals, aliquots from each treat-
Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 69, No. 3, 1986
ment were pasteurized and manufactured into
cheese, and resulting yields were compared with
those obtained on d 0 for manufacturing and
grade A milk. Each treatment was terminated
when stored milk coagulated when pasteurized.
Increase in total bacterial count ranged from
one log cycle for high count manufacturing
grade to more than three log cycles for low
count grade A milk. Similar changes were
observed for proteolytic and psychrotrophic
populations. As stationary populations were
approached essentially all organisms were
psychrotrophic and most were proteolytic and
lipolytic in activity. Cheese yield was affected
by initial psychrotrophic populations and
length of time that raw milk was stored. Losses
were significant when aerobic counts exceeded
1 0 6 cfu/ml. Recovery of cheese solids decreased
by approximately .6% for manufacturing grade
milk per day of storage up to 4 d. Further stor-
age gave much greater losses of cheese solids
and correlated with attainment of maximum
bacterial populations. Protein degradation was
accompanied by increased moisture content in
the curd. Cheese quality decreased as psychro-
trophic populations increased. Stored milk
cheeses were gassy with red and bleached out
areas and had a weak body with bitter flavors
typical of that produced by heat stable pro-
teolytic enzymes.
Cheese plants purchasing high count manu-
facturing milk or surplus grade A milk, or
storing milk for cheese manufacturing purposes
where aerobic counts prior to pasteurization
exceed 1 0 6 cfu/ml, will sustain substantial yield
and quality losses. Cheese manufacturing prac-
tices should be modified to encourage the use
of low count milk or to penalize the use of high
count milk. Milk storage should be minimized,
reducing the time that milk is stored at re-
ceiving stations or manufacturing plants.
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1976. Effect of psychrotrophic bacteria from raw
milk proteins and stability of milk proteins to
ultra-high temperature treatment. J. Dairy Sci. 59:
823.
2 All, A. E., A. T. Andrews, and G. C. Cheeseman.
1980. Factors influencing casein distribution in
cold-stored milk and their effects on cheese making
parameters. J. Dairy Res. 47:383.
3 All, A. E., A. T. Andrews, and G. C. Chesseman.
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1980. Influence of forage of milk on casein distri-
bution between the mlcellar and soluble phases and
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