A NOVEL MILK-CLOTTING ENZYME FROM CUMIN SEEDS (CUMINUMCYMINUM L.) AND ITS IMPACTS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BRINEDSOFT CHEESE

As cheese production increased globally and bovine rennet became rare and costly, other milk-clotting enzymes (MCE) were required.The objective of this study was to extract MCE from cumin seeds (Cuminum cyminum L), evaluate its characteristics, and consider its potential application in the production of brined soft cheese (BSC).Purified MCE maintained more than 80% of its initial activity across a broad temperature range (20-60C) and pH range (4-6), with the optimal temperature and pH being 50C and 6, respectively.When purified MCE was used to make soft cheese, there were no major differences in cheese yield and protein recovery compared to calf and microbial rennet.Also, there were no noticeable differences in the composition and texture profile of BSC with purified MCE from cumin seeds (BSC-CE) compared to those made with calf (BSC-CR) and microbial (BSC-MR) rennet until week 5 when stored at 52C.At week 8, the moisture and proteolysis contents of BSC-CE were the highest, while its hardness and gumminess were the lowest.The antioxidant activity of BSC-CE against DPPH and ABTS radicals was the highest and increased with time of storage, followed by BSC-MR and BSC-CR.BSC-CE was also more palatable up until week 5, but by week 8, the texture became very soft.