The b* values (yellow component) were found to be higher (P < 0.05) in CCM. The increase in b* values has been related to the occurrence of proteolysis and the Maillard reaction, which decrease the luminosity due to the production of browning compounds (Lucas et al., 2008). The assessed samples presented high lumi- nosity (L*) values, with predominance of the yellow component (b*) rather than the green component (a*), suggesting that the white- yellowness mostly contributed to the color characteristics of the cheeses.