Effect of high pressure treatment of milk on cheese making process

Raw milk cheese has unique flavor and textural characteristics not obtainable in cheese from pasteurized milk. Several specialty cheeses made from raw milk are marketed worldwide, especially in Europe. However, because of safety concerns, many countries have imposed stringent restrictions on production and sale of raw milk cheeses. The purpose of this thesis research was to use high pressure (HP) treatment as a novel alternative for conventional pasteurization so that raw milk quality cheese could be produced without compromising food safety. The specific objectives of this research were to evaluate (i) the effect of HP treatment of milk on its coagulation and gelation characteristics, (ii) the destruction kinetics of microorganism and enzymes in milk, (iii) cheese making characteristics of HP treated milk as compared to the raw, pasteurized and micro-filtered milk (controls) and, finally (iv) to evaluate ripening characteristics of cheddar cheese made from HP treated milk in comparison with the controls.Three coagulation parameters of milk---lag time, mean coagulation rate, and inflexion time (time for reaching the point of maximum coagulation rate)---were evaluated as a function of pressure (200--400 MPa), temperature (3--21°C) and holding time (10--110 min) using a response surface methodology. In general, the lag time and inflexion time decreased while the mean coagulation rate increased with an increase in pressure, holding time or a decrease in temperature: The rennet gel characteristics were evaluated as gel strength (GS) and water-holding capacity (WHC). With a decrease in pressure level, temperature and holding time, there was a decrease in water-holding capacity and an increase in the gel-strength of the rennet curd. (Abstract shortened by UMI.