Changes of Mineral Concentrations in Serra Cheese during Ripening and Throughout the Cheesemaking Season

Seasonal changes of the ash content and mineral concentrations in Serra cheese were studied over a typical 35-day ripening period. Statistically signiÐcant di†erences (at the 5% level) exist between the ash content and the concentrations of Na, K, Ca, P, Mg and Zn in cheeses during ripening. The highest concentrations of Na was obtained in cheese ripened for 7 days, whereas the concentrations of K, Ca, P, Ng and Zn decreased signiÐcantly during ripening. For 35-day-old cheeses, concentrations of Na, K and Cu were lowest and concentration of P was highest for cheeses manufactured in May. The concentration of Ca was lowest for cheeses manufactured in February. On average, the most concentrated minerals (in g kg~1 of total solids, TS) in 35-day-old Serra cheese were Na (18É56), Ca (9É70) and P (7É92) and, at a lower level, K (1É70) and Mg (0É96). Only trace levels (in of Zn (94É33), Cu (2É26) and Mn (1É25) were mg TS ~1) detected. A high mineral nutrition quality was thus ascribed to 35-day-old Serra cheese based on the average nutritional densities : 4É8 for Ca, 4É0 for P, 1É1 for Mg, 3É4 for Na, 2É4 for Zn, 0É4 for Cu, 0É2 for Mn and 0É2 for K.