Etudes microbiologiques et physicochimiques des laits caprins et technologie fromagére améliorée: cas du lait "Baladi" du Liban

Milk samples were taken from various geographical areas, distributed according to altitude, breeding methods, season of lactation and the race. In parallel, three cheese processing T1, T2 and T3 were done at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of lactation stages, by inoculating a starter of three strains of lactic acid bacteria: Str. thermophilus, L. lactis and L. caséi. The microbiological analyses showed that the lowest average of contamination of the goat milk produced in Lebanon was the Baladi’s milk. The breeding in an extensive system presented good microbiological quality milk compared to the intensive system. The highest milk protein rate was observed in Chami’s and Baladi’s milk 3.7% and 3.9% respectively and varied with the type of breeding, 3.8% for the extensive and 3.52% for the intensive one. The highest butyric rate was observed in Baladi’s milk 4.1% followed by the Chami’s milk 4% and was 1% higher in the extensive breeding(4%), than the intensive one(3%).The matured cheeses turned out to be all unharmed by pathogenic bacteria. A progressive increase in number of the starter cultures was noticed. An increase in acidity was observed during the maturing period. The total nitrogen level increased progressively in T1 and T2; T2 showed the highest level of non casein nitrogen and the highest ripening index. The fat content showed an increase level of linoleic and linolenic acids especially in T1 and T2. The combined analysis results proved that the Baladi race presents very high microbiological and physicochemical quality milk and the second cheese processing were the best regarding the microbiological, physicochemical and sensory properties.