QUALITY EVALUATION OF CHEESE PREPARED BY PLANT COAGULANTS: CARICA PAPAYA AND MORINGA OLEIFERA LEAVES

Abstract

Owing to the prevalence of numerous human ailments in current epoch, use of natural food in manufacturing of variant processed stuffs has captured the attention of researchers, quite considerably as they comprise of beneficial components. In this regard, utilization of plant derived enzymes is making its mark, attributable to their easy availability and resistivity to survive severe processing conditions i.e. temperature and pH. The purpose of the study was to extract protease from Carica papaya and Moringa oleifera leaves and cheese was manufactured by using different levels of extract concentrations as rennet substitute. Enzyme extract was subjected to protein content, milk clotting and proteolytic activity for the pursuit of its effectiveness in cheese preparation. Different cheese treatments were analyzed for their physicochemical, functional and sensory properties. Fat, moisture and protein contents showed highly significant (p<0.01) results in cheese. Whereas enzyme extract induced non-significant (p>0.05) effect on ash, acidity and pH values of cheese. Results showed that cheese manufactured by using papaya leaf extract i.e. T 3 and T 4 exhibited good chemical and functional attributes comparable to control i.e. T 0 (use of rennet). In conclusion, papaya protease proved to be a good plant coagulant with gigantic potential to replace rennet.