Cheese is the most remarkable dairy product due its variability, high market coverage and flavor. An important ratio of worldwide cheese production is used as an ingredient for the production of other foods. The main reason for using the cheese as ingredient is its flavor. Unique flavor of cheese is developed during the ripening period. The ripening is a high-cost process and standardization of the product is not easy. It is possible to develop and intensify cheese flavor in a short time period under controlled conditions by the aid of enzymatic reactions. The product obtained with this method is called enzyme modified cheese (EMC). In the production of EMC, proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes are used. However, the enzyme type and incubation time differ according to the targeted cheese flavor and these parameters should be determined with experimental studies. In this study, the effects of proteolytic enzymes on the cheese ripening parameters were determined. Fresh white cheese was used as raw material and 5 different commercial enzymes including endopeptidases (Neutrase and Promod 215MDP) and exopeptidases (Flavorzyme, Flavorpro 937MDP and Flavorpro Umami 852MDP) were tested at 4 different incubation times (12, 24, 36 and 48 h). The soluble nitrogen fractions (nitrogen soluble in water, tricholoroacetic acid, phosphotungstic acid and total free amino acid contents) were analyzed and ripening indices (ripening extension, ripening depth and free amino acid indices) were calculated. Results showed that all ripening parameters changed significantly during incubation period (P < 0.05). The ripening extension index varied in the range of 46.2–77.9%, while the ripening depth index and the free amino acid index values were calculated in the range of 25.9–67.4% and 8.0–34.4%, respectively. Exopeptidases showed higher proteolysis rates. The highest rate for ripening was obtained by Flavorpro Umami 852MDP, followed by Flavorzyme.