Functional Pecorino cheese production by using innovative lamb rennet paste

The effect of type of lamb rennet paste and of encapsulated probiotics in the rennet on the maturing process of Pecorino cheese was studied. Different types of rennet paste were obtained from lamb fed artificial milk, or artificial milk with Lactobacillus acidophilus, or artificial milk with a mix of Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium lactis; moreover aliquots of these rennets were added with encapsulated cells of L. acidophilus or of a mix of B. longum and B. lactis. Experimental rennet pastes with and without encapsulated probiotics were used for the production of Pecorino cheese characterized for the proteolytic and lipolytic pattern at 120 days of ripening. High probiotic viability in cheese ripened at 120 d sustained the proteolytic process, in particular probiotic strains influenced peptidase activities and free amino acid profile of Pecorino cheese.Lipolysis in cheese seemed to be influenced greatly by the enzymatic pattern carried out by rennet paste.