Coalho Cheese Made with Protease from Thermomucor indicae-seudaticae N31: Technological Potential of the New Coagulant for the Production of High-Cooked Cheese

The aim of this study was to explore the use of a new coagulant from Thermomucor indicae-seudaticae N31 for the manufacture of a high-cooked starter-free cheese variety, by evaluating its physicochemical and functional characteristics in comparison to cheeses made with a traditional commercial coagulant. Coalho cheese was successfully produced with the new protease as it exhibited comparable characteristics to the one produced using the commercial enzyme: pH behavior during manufacture; cheese composition; protein and fat recovery; and cheese yield. In addition, during storage, melting was low and not affected by storage time; the increase of TCA 12% soluble nitrogen (% of total nitrogen) was lower than half of that of pH 4.6 soluble nitrogen (% of total nitrogen); concentration of β-CN significantly decreased, whereas αs1-CN concentration was not affected by storage time.