Buffalo milk was obtained from the dairy farm at the University of Agriculture (Faisalabad, Pakistan) and standardized to a 4.0% fat level. Cheddar cheese was manufactured using commercially available freeze- dried mesophilic starter cultures (Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris and Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis) and by adding sodium chloride at 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5% (wt/wt of the curd obtained), following the standard procedure described by Murtaza et al. (2012). Cheese samples were ripened at 6 to 8°C for 180 d.