Possibility of Biarum carduchcorum application as vegetable rennet in production of Iranian white cheese

Numerous attempts have been made to replace calf rennet with another milk-clotting protease because of limited supply and the high price of calf rennet.Biarum carduchcorum is rich in protease activities, therefore it is a probable candidate for substitution. No systematic study on the Biarum carduchcorum and its enzyme characteristics have been conducted so far. The purpose of this study was to prepare Biarumextract, determination of its protease activity for milk clotting and production of Iranian white cheese and study on the physicochemical and organoleptic properties of the product. After the cheese production by the vegetable extract (0.5% concentration) organoleptic, textural properties and nitrogen solubility index (NSI) were analyzed during 45 days of ripening compared to the control sample. The results of this study showed that the optimal protease activity of the extracted enzymes for milk clotting was at 45 oC, pH= 5 and 15 mmol/ml concentration of CaCl2.The cheese sample that was manufactured with vegetable enzyme had a bitter flavor and sharper odor. At textural analysis, the cheese had a lower hardness. Assessment of proteolysis during the cheese ripening by NSI measurement showed that the proteolysis severity of cheese sample produced with vegetable enzyme was significantly higher than the control sample. Therefore, it seems that aqueous extract ofBiarum in concentration used for the production of Iranian white cheese cannot be a suitable substitute for rennet.