Considering the fact that the great majority of Iranian cheeses are ripened in brine, the aim of this research was to study the exchanges of nutrients between the curd and the brine during the ripening period. The results indicated that the valuable components which are very effective in organoleptic characteristics of the final product migrate from the curd into the brine. With the progress of proteolysis the curd gets poorer in calcium, magne._ium, phosporus and potassium and the brine gets richer. Then, after 75 days of ripening calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium contents of the brine were increased by : 45.9, 56.3, 24.4 and 35.2 percent, respectively. The results also showed that the amount of total nitrogen and non - protein nitrogen (NPN) in the brine was increased, whereas after 90 days of ripening the amount of nitrogen was elevated from zero to 0.62 percent.
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