Dairy Foods: Milk Protein and Enzymes Symposium

Direct addition of enzymes to milk during cheesemaking appears to be the simplest method to accelerate cheese ripening. However, due to loss of most enzymes in whey, poor enzyme distribution, and texture defects by extensive proteolysis, alternative encapsulation technology can eliminate these defects. Previous approaches on the addition of free enzymes during salting stage and encapsulation of natural flavourenhancing enzymes using different food gums and liposomes will be presented. In this study, aminopeptidase (PepN) of the cheese isolate, Lactobacillus rhamnosus S93 was genetically overproduced up to a 1,000 fold, purified and encapsulated in chitosan-coated alginate beads to investigate the effects of Cheddar cheese ripening for 6 months. The encapsulation efficiency was above 90%, and the experimental cheeses received higher scores for sensory properties than the control cheese. The amounts of PTA-N and total FAA in the cheese with the encapsulated enzyme after 2 months of ripening were close to those of the control cheese after 6 months, suggesting the acceleration of about 4 months in proteolysis. Although this study was aimed to develop an encapsulation method which can affect Cheddar cheese ripening, it would be useful for other type of cheeses.