Microbiological and chemical characterization of Cabacinha Cheese marketed in three municipalities in Vale do Jequitinhonha

Cabacinha cheese from Vale do Jequitinhonha is similar mozzarella, but in this milk is crude, being the product is stored at ambient without packaging. Besides it contributes to local income, customers may be food-poisoned. The objective of this study was to verify the physical-chemical and microbiological characteristics of samples of Cabacinha cheese produced and marketed in Vale do Jequitinhonha-MG. Samples were bought in tents (n=25), restaurants (n=4) and bakeries (n=2) located by BR 251 and BR 116 highways in the towns of Medina, Cachoeira de Pajeú and Pedra Azul. Cheeses from 17 marketplaces were purchased from the first town, 10 from the second and 4 from the third, respectively. The coliforms at 35oC, Escherichia coli, coagulase positive Staphylococcus, lactic acid bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeasts were 1.8 x 10; 1 x 10; 4.6 x 10; 6.3 x 10 and 4.9 x 10 Colony Forming Units per gram, respectively, and Salmonella spp. are absent. The chemical characteristics mean was 26.47% of protein, 27.69% of fat, 4.34% of minerals, 36.23% of moisture, 843.66 mg/100g of sodium and pH of 5.14. This is the first paper that describes microbiological and chemical characteristics of Cabacinha cheese from Vale do Jequitinhonha. The absence of regulations for microbiological parameters may put the health of consumers at risk.


Introduction
The top three most produced cheeses in Brazil are Prato, Mozzarella and Minas, all manufactured in dairy product industries or by small rural producers. These often make use of unpasteurized milk and have inappropriate manufacturing practices that can bring contamination from deterioration and pathogen micro-organisms (Rezende et al., 2010;Fernandes et al., 2011;Apolinário et al., 2014).
The production of raw-milk-handmade cheese is associated to the Slow Food Local artisanal direct marketing of cheese positively increases the income of small farmers, although it is impossible to point the exact monetary impact from official statistics.
It's marketing however is more significant for producers who cannot sell it to the dairy industry (Silva et al., 2011). Cabacinha cheese from Vale do Jequitinhonha is generally sold outdoors as vendors hung them unpacked on strings that are strapped to tents that don't fully protect them from heat or sunlight, usually by highways. Such factors may enable access of vectors of contamination which can compromise the sanitary quality of the product (Santos Filho et al., 2016).
As a consequence of the lack of hygiene that is associated to the market of Cabacinha cheese that is sold by highways (Santos Filho et al., 2016), food-poisoning is likely to happen to travelers from some regions of the country. To avoid food-poisoning outbreaks and/or food Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n. 9, e979998049, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i9.8049 5 infection, IMA in one of its ordinances determines that raw-milk cheese maturation should take at least 60 days (Minas Gerais, 2013), even though the reduced dimensions of this type of cheese are incompatible with maturation for this long (Fernandes et al., 2011). As there is a scarce number of researches related to Cabacinha cheese and an absence of official regulations for its microbiological parameters, the aim of this study is to analyze microbiological and chemical characteristics of the Cabacinha cheese that is marketed in Vale do Jequitinhonha.

Material and methods
The research was based on guidance from Pereira et al. (2018).
In January 2016, in Médio Jequitinhonha that is located around the central part of Vale do Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Cabacinha cheese marketplaces were prospected.
After identifying each marketplace in the whole area, the ones chosen for analysis were those from the municipalities of Medina (n=17), Cachoeira de Pajeú (n=10) and Pedra Azul (n=4), totalizing 31 marketplaces. Cabacinha cheeses were collected from 25 tents, 4 restaurants and 2 bakeries. From the ones exposed to sale, a couple of cheeses were randomly chosen and bought to be analyzed -that was the research's sampling unit.