Camel Milk-Clotting Using Plant Extracts as a Substitute to Commercial Rennet

Abstract

The transformation of camel milk into cheese is an operation considered very delicate because of several difficulties encountered in achieving coagulation. The present study aims to improve coagulation abilities of camel milk using enzyme extracts from pineapple, kiwi, and ginger. Our results concerning the characterization of the enzymatic extract showed an extraction yield that varies according to the type of extract (pineapple: 75.28% ± 4.59, kiwi: 63.97% ± 5.22, and ginger: 28.64% ± 1.47). The optimum coagulation conditions of the 3 types of extract were as follows: for pineapple: pH = 5 and temperature = 45°C; for kiwifruit: pH = 6.6 and temperature = 40°C; and for ginger: pH = 6.6 and temperature = 45°C. A fresh cheese was made from camel milk with a particular nutritional quality and consistency. The kiwi proteases displayed chymosin-like properties and thus hold the best potential for use as a milk coagulant in cheese production.