To determine its suitability for use as a coating, 58 Montasio cheeses were coated after the brining stage with Plasticoat, a slightly porous polymer with the following characteristics: solids content, 40 2%; viscosity, 5000 cP; pH, 5; mean particle size, 0.4-0.6 mum; and sp. gr., 1.05 g/m 2. After 30, 60 and 100 days of ripening, the cheeses were examined for mean wt. loss, moisture and DM contents, ripening coeff. (ratio of soluble to total Kjeldahl protein), consistency and fungal development. Compared with the controls (58 uncoated cheeses), use of the Plasticoat coating inhibited fungal growth, while permitting a normal ripening process and effecting a small but significant wt. loss reduction.
