Assessment of Purified Bacterial Milk Clotting Enzyme from Bacillus subtilis K-26 for Cheddar Cheese Making

Effects on Cheddar cheese ripening and quality were compared for five milk clotting enzymes including crude and purified enzymes from Bacillus subtilis K-26, calf rennet, and 50-50 mixtures of the purified bacterial enzymes and calf rennet or swine pepsin.During cheese manufacture, acid development was relatively faster, protein and fat losses were higher, and cheese yields were lower when crude bacterial enzymes were used.Yields of cheese were comparable with purified enzyme in 50:50 combination with calf rennet.The initial soluble nitrogen contents and the maturity indices of bacterial enzyme cheese were higher than for the control cheese.Also the a s-and H-casein fractions were degraded more in bacteria1 enzyme cheese.Organoleptic evaluations indicated that cheese made with a 50:50 combination of purified bacterial enzyme and calf rennet was as acceptable as control cheese with calf rennet.