Quantification of biogenic amines in fabrication steps of Gorgonzola-type cheese

During the Gorgonzola-type cheese preparation there are proteolysis and lipolysis which may be influenced by the type of starter culture chosen. Six manufacturing steps were selected to identify which of them is most suitable for biogenic amines (BA) formation (1- milk, 2- lactic acid bacterial culture and fungus addition, 3- curd, 4- dry salting, 5- maturation at 30 days and maturation at 60 days); perform research on enterobacteria; accomplish the research of BA-producing bacteria (BAPB); detect and quantify the most abundant BA (putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine, histamine, spermidine and spermine) in the six steps of Gorgonzola cheese production and in bacterial isolates using high performance liquid chromatography and UV-Vis SPD/10AV detector and define if the presence of enterobacteria and BAPB would be correlated with BA production in this cheese. The bacterial culture used increased its log population by 7 log cycles and reached its highest level in batch 2 during cheese maturation. There was a decrease in the enterobacterial population in 2 log cycles after 60 days of maturation in batch 1. Tyramine was the BA with the highest concentration 306.32 mg.Kg -1 quantified in step 6 (60 days maturation) in batch 1. Criterion is requiered in bacterial starter culture selection because it is a quality determinant factor in relation to BA production and more rigor in raw material selection.