Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXIV, Issue 2
Written by Sorin NITU, Mihaela GEICU-CRISTEA, Florentina MATEI
The increase in cheese consumption worldwide, in symbiosis with the promotion and consolidation of lacto-vegetarian diets, as well as with the support of foods with religious restrictions (Halal, Kosher), has imposed a sustained trend of identifying plant proteases with milk-clotting activity. In the spirit of this trend, appeared the necessity to scan the native flora of Romania, to find the local resources of vegetal milk-clotting enzymes. This article presents a series of tests performed on indigenous plants like Taraxacum officinale, Rumex acetosa, Lactuca sativa, Urtica dioica, to identify and evaluate the potential for milk coagulation, knowing that they are sources of plant protease. The research involved the use of plant tissues as such, but also in order to obtain extracts that were later used in milk coagulation. The analysis consisted in establishing the milk-clotting activity (according with Soxhlet method), but also physicchemical and sensory analyses. The obtained results revealed milk-clotting activity on almost all plants researched. A more accurate characterization of the purified plant milk-clotting enzyme would be interesting to be performed in the future.
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