Shelf-life evaluation of portioned Provolone cheese packaged in protective atmosphere

The aim of this work was to evaluate the shelf-life of portioned Provolone cheese packaged in protective atmosphere using four different CO2/N2 gas mixtures (10/90, 20/80, 30/70 and 100/0 v/v) and at 4 and 8 1C, in order to simulate, respectively, the most common domestic and retail storage conditions. Control samples were vacuum-packaged. Furthermore, the acquired data were utilized to predictthe commercial shelf-life of the cheese. The gas mixture made up of 30% CO2 and 70% N2 guaranteed portioned Provolone cheese the best preservability, since it was able to slow the proteolytic and lipolytic phenomena typical of cheese ripening more than all other gas mixtures.