Effect of milk composition and coagulation traits on Grana Padano cheese yield under field conditions

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of chemical composition, coagulation properties, pH, and titratable acidity (TA, SH°/50 ml) of vat milk on Grana Padano cheese yield (CY) under field conditions. Twelve cheese-making sessions were carried out from February to December 2009 in a dairy cooperative of Grana Padano Consortium (Italy), for a total of 96 vats of milk processed. For each vat, samples of raw milk were collected and analysed for quality traits (fat, protein, and casein contents), pH, TA, and milk coagulation properties (MCP), measured as rennet coagulation time (RCT, min), curd-firming time (k(20), min), and curd firmness (a(30), mm). Cheese yield was expressed as kilograms of cheese per 100 kg milk transformed, and was measured after 2 d of drainage. Fat, protein, and casein contents were positively and strongly correlated with CY (coefficients of correlation, r = 0.72, 0.88, and 0.84, respectively; P < 0.001). Coagulation properties were moderately and significantly (P < 0.001) related to CY: milk that coagulated earlier and had stronger a(30) was associated to greater CY. Cheese yield was analysed with a model that accounted for fixed effects of cheese-making day, fat and protein content, TA, and a(30). Significance was found for all the effects (P < 0.05). Milk characterised by high values of a(30) resulted in higher CY than milk with low values of a 30, indicating that MCP could be used as indicators of cheese-making efficiency. Future research should investigate the relationships between MCP and quality of cheese, and explore the feasibility of including MCP in multiple component milk pricing system for Grana Padano cheese production.

Effectiveness of mid-infrared spectroscopy for prediction of the contents of calcium and phosphorus, and titratable acidity of milk and their relationship with milk quality and coagulation properties

“…Milk acidity, and in particular titratable acidity (TA), affects the aggregation rate of paracasein micelles, the reactivity of rennet, and the rate of syneresis (De Marchi et al, 2009a); as reported by Formaggioni, Malacarne, Summer, Fossa, and Mariani (2001), milk with low acidity is generally considered unsuitable for cheese-making, because of negative effects on the rheology of the rennet curd and on the textural properties of the cheese paste. Moreover, several studies have investigated the favourable relationships between TA and milk coagulation properties (MCP; Cassandro et al, 2008;De Marchi, Dal Zotto, Cassandro, & Bittante, 2007;De Marchi et al, 2009a;Harzia et al, 2012;Penasa et al, 2010;Toffanin, De Marchi, Penasa, Pretto, & Cassandro, 2012) and cheese yield (De Marchi, Bittante, Dal Zotto, Dalvit, & Cassandro, 2008;Pretto, De Marchi, Penasa, & Cassandro, 2013).…”

Heritability and repeatability of milk coagulation properties predicted by mid-infrared spectroscopy during routine data recording, and their relationships with milk yield and quality traits

“…The ability of milk to react to the presence of rennet has been intensively studied in cattle (Aleandri et al, 1989;De Marchi et al, 2007). It has been widely demonstrated that milk with desirable clotting characteristics, namely relatively short clotting time, good firming rate and high curd firmness at cut, results in higher cheese yield than poorly coagulating milk (Johnson et al, 2001;Pretto et al, 2013) and increased profitability for the dairy industry (Bynum and Olson, 1982;Formaggioni et al, 2005). The improvement of MCP is strongly advisable to enhance dairy sector efficiency, especially in countries were milk is predominantly destined to cheese production (Geary et al, 2010).…”

A Comparison of Milk Clotting Characteristics and Quality Traits of Rendena and Holstein-Friesian Cows

“…Milk coagulation properties are influenced by a number of factors such as milk chemical composition and acidity (Storry et al, 1983;Nájera et al, 2003;Pretto et al, 2013), and stage of lactation and parity of the cow (Lindström et al, 1984;Okigbo et al, 1985;Penasa et al, 2014). Moreover, MCP vary greatly among cow breeds as reported in France (Macheboeuf et al, 1993), United Kingdom (Verdier-Metz et al, 1998), Ireland (Auldist et al, 2002), New Zealand (Auldist et al, 2004) and Italy (De Marchi et al, 2007).…”