Effect of Oryctolagus cuniculus (rabbit) rennet on the texture, rheology, and sensory properties of white cheese

Abstract

Calf rennet has long been used in cheese‐making. Because of calf rennet shortage and high cost, novel proteases were needed to meet industry's increasing enzyme demand. Recombinant chymosins and camel chymosin were started to be used in the industry. There is no study in the literature subjecting use of rabbit rennet in cheese production. Chemical, rheological, and sensorial characteristics of white cheese made with rabbit rennet were investigated in this study. Quality characteristics of rabbit rennet cheese (RC) were compared to cheeses produced with commercial calf (CC) and camel chymosins (CLC). RC and CLC exhibited higher hardness and dynamic moduli values throughout the storage as compared to CC. Although moisture levels of cheese samples were similar at day 60, CC had much lower hardness and dynamic moduli values than CLC and RC. While the appearance and structure were better for CLC, the highest odor and taste scores were obtained by RC during 60 days of storage. The results of this investigation proposed that rabbit rennet could be a suitable milk coagulant for white cheese production. Our results showed that rabbit rennet has comparable cheese‐making performance with camel chymosin and could be a good alternative for calf chymosin.

Performance of Crude Coagulants from Adult Rabbit Stomach and Their Influence on the Brazilian Prato Cheese Type Composition

“…Alihanoglu [16] tested coagulants from young rabbit stomachs, as well as their action on white cheese composition and texture. Scarce information is available on the use of stomachs of adult rabbits with age and commercial weight and the possibility of their use as coagulants.…”

Milk-clotting properties on bovine caseins of a novel cysteine peptidase from germinated Moringa oleifera seeds

“…Coagulation of milk is one of the key steps in cheese manufacture, and milk-clotting enzymes play an important role in this process. Rennet is the most widely used complex of milk-clotting enzymes in cheesemaking, which is obtained from the abomasum of unweaned calves (Alihanoğlu et al, 2018) and whose main com-ponent is the protease chymosin. However, the worldwide increasing demand for cheese, ethical or religious restrictions regarding the use of calf rennet (Narwal et al, 2016;Salehi et al, 2017), and the import regulations for chymosin in China have prompted the search for new rennet alternatives with selective milk-clotting properties.…”

Structural Analysis of a Novel Aspartic-Type Endopeptidase from Moringa oleifera Seeds and Its Milk-Clotting Properties

“…Proteases are used in the field of biotechnology owing to their ability to hydrolyze diverse substrates with high specificity. , Among the proteases used in the food industry, some are utilized for milk clotting, an important step in cheese production. Calf rennet is the most widely used milk-clotting protease, which is obtained from the fourth stomach of suckling calves; however, the increase in demand for cheese of high quality and flavor, ethical or religious restrictions regarding the use of calf rennet, and the import regulations for chymosin in China have resulted in the search for new rennet alternatives with selective milk-clotting properties. Recently, plant-derived milk-clotting proteases, including papain, bromelain, and aspartic proteases, have been shown to be suitable for cheese production because of their abundance and convenience of extraction. , …”