Alistag(TM), a new coating agent for aging cheese and hams

Aging rooms of dry-cured ham and cheese are subject to the development of mold and arthropods, above all mites, which cause the erosion of the external part of these food products, reducing their surface to dust and determining their progressive degradation. This work is meant to give the results of an experiment carried out to test the level of protection supplied by Alistag(TM), a coating agent based on Gluconodeltalactone, on a typical Sicilian cheese cosacavaddu ibleo. Alistag(TM) was applied by nebulization and by immersion. The two parameters took in consideration to evaluate their efficacy were the presence/absence of cracks and the level of dustiness on the surface of the cheese. Alistag(TM) turned out to be very efficient in protecting cheese both from the development of dust and from cracks; between the two kinds of application tested, immersion resulted to be the best one, for the protecting action lasts longer.