Accoustic cheese wheel ripening system and method

Method for producing ripened—hard or semi-hard—cheese comprising the steps of:

• (i) placing one or more unripened cheese wheels (2) comprising phosphoproteins and lactic bacteria in a maturation environment (10);
• ii) providing at least one electro-acoustic transducer (6) configured to generate sound waves (4) in the maturation environment (10), at a time-varying frequency and at a sound pressure comprised in the range from 50-100 dBSPL (6.32-2000 mPa);
• iii) for a treatment time, stimulating the at least one cheese wheel (2) of step i) with said sound waves (4) to accelerate a proteolysis of phosphoproteins by lactic bacteria;
• (iv) ripening the cheese wheel (2) for a ripening time in order to obtain a wheel of ripened cheese (2);
• wherein the propagation of the sound waves (4) from the electro-acoustic transducer (6) to the cheese wheel (2) or to the plurality thereof occurs in the air, the length of the propagation path (12) being equal to or greater than 1 metre.