Influence of residual milk-clotting enzyme and proteolysis on melting properties of soft cheese

Abstract

In this work, we assessed the influence of coagulant residual activity and primary proteolysis on Cremoso Argentino cheese melting properties. For that purpose, we made Cremoso soft cheeses using different amounts of coagulant, and also obtained samples in which milk clotting enzyme was inactivated. The residual activity of coagulant correlated with primary proteolysis, especially in early stages of ripening. Caseins’ hydrolysis did not significantly impact on the melting ability of the cheeses, expressed as the area increase after heating samples under standardised conditions. Samples with similar proximate composition showed some changes in meltability; those seemed related to pH evolution during ripening.