Evaluation of Effectiveness of Snow Utilization for Preservation of Cheese by a Model Experiment

Snow-storage room (namely yukimuro) is a cooling system that has been used to preserve foods under low temperature and high humidity conditions. In the present study, we investigated the effectiveness of snow utilization for the preservation and ripening of cheese by using a snow-storage room model, which was constructed of a low-temperature, high-humidity refrigerator with crushed ice. When a Camembert cheese was stored in a conventional refrigerator for a month, its water content was significantly decreased not only under air-exposed conditions but also sealed in a gas barrier package. In contrast, the water content of the cheese stored in the snow-storage room model was comparable to that of its initial state even under air-exposed conditions. In addition, both the Camembert and Gouda cheeses stored in the snow-storage room model had good color and texture profiles as compared with those stored in conventional refrigerator. The Camembert cheese stored in the snow-storage room model was preferred by sensory test and showed better evaluation scores regarding color, taste and texture than that stored in conventional refrigerator. Further, the Danish blue cheese stored in the snow-storage room model retained significantly high amount of odor components than that stored in conventional refrigerator. These findings indicate that the conditions in snow-storage room are suitable for preservation and low-temperature ripening of cheese.