Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – Of milk or milk product
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-01
2003-04-22
Paden, Carolyn (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
Of milk or milk product
C426S034000, C426S035000, C426S036000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06551635
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a process for producing cheese from enzyme-treated cheese milk, and the use of the resulting produced cheese as ingredient in food products. The present invention also relates to a process for stabilizing the fat in a milk composition.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In cheese products, the state of the fat phase is important to the properties of the cheese. The fat phase is particularly important for the stabilisation of the cheese during production and ripening, but also for the final cheese to be used, eaten as such, or used in prepared ready-to-eat dishes e.g. pizza, toast or burgers.
Also, the oiling-off properties of cheese products is an important quality parameter. Oiling-off is the tendency to form free oil upon storage and melting. Excessive oiling-off is a defect most often related to heated products wherein cheese is used, e.g. pizza and related foods (cf. e.g. Kindstedt J. S; Rippe J. K. 1990, J Dairy Sci. 73: 867-873. It becomes more and more important to control/eliminate this defect, as the consumer concern about dietary fat levels increases. Free oil/fat in a product is perceived as a high fat content, and is generally undesirable.
In other food products the fat phase is often stabilised by mechanic emulsification, e.g. homogenisation. This technology is generally not applicable in cheese production as homogenisation of the cheese milk has a negative influence on the coagulation properties of the cheese milk and on the yield as well as the taste of the cheese produced therefrom.
In GB 1,525,929 it is disclosed as known to prepare stabilized oil-in-water emulsions using monoacyl glycero-phosphatide obtained by subjecting diacyl glycerophosphatide to the action of phospholipase A. GB 1,525,929 further describes use of phospholipase A treated phospholipoprotein-containing material for preparing oil-in-water emulsions, i.e. use of phospholipase treated material as an emulsion stabiliser for oil-in-water emulsions of which sauces, dressings and mayonnaise is mentioned. Cheese is not disclosed in GB 1,525,929.
So-called lecithinase activity, disclosed as phospholipase activity, has been reported for bacterial contaminants in milk, as well as the use of such milk for cheese production: “J. J. Owens, Observations on lecithinases from milk contaminants, Process Biochemistry, vol. 13 no. 1, 1978, page 10-18” and “J. J. Owens, Lecithinase Positive Bacteria in Milk, Process Biochemistry, vol. 13, page 13-15, 1978”.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,610 discloses a process for preparing a cheese composition, i.e. processed cheese, for incorporation into food material where monoacyl glycero-phospholipid, fat, water and molten salt is added to cheese. The process comprises a heating treatment to dissolve the cheese (the cheese being mixed with among others mono acyl glycero phospholipid) before the addition of fat. Subsequently the cheese-composition is emulsified by a mixer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,610 does not disclose treatment of milk with phospholipase and manufacturing of cheese from the enzyme treated milk.
There is a need for an improved process for the manufacturing of cheese, in particular a process for improving the stability of the fat in cheese.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a process for producing cheese, which comprises the steps of:
a) treating cheese milk or a fraction of cheese milk with a phospholipase; and
b) producing cheese from the cheese milk.
wherein step a) is conducted before and/or simultaneously with step b).
There is provided a process for improving the properties of cheeses; in particular the fat stability of cheese and cheese milk is improved by the present invention. The inventor has found that enzyme treatment of cheese milk significantly enhances the stability during a heat treatment of cheese produced from said phospholipase-treated cheese milk. By the process of the invention is also provided a method for increasing the yield in cheese production.
The invention further relates to the use of phospholipase in the manufacturing of cheese products, wherein the phospholipase treatment is conducted on the cheese milk or a fraction thereof before and/or during the production of the cheese. The invention also relates to cheeses obtainable, in particular obtained, by any of the processes described herein.
DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for producing cheese, which comprises the steps of:
a) treating cheese milk or a fraction of cheese milk with a phospholipase; and
b) producing cheese from the enzyme-treated cheese milk of step a),
wherein step a) is conducted before step b) and/or simultaneously with step b).
Thus, step a) and b) of the process of the invention may be conducted simultaneously, i.e. the phospholipase reacts in the cheese milk at more or less the same time as the milk coagulant forms the coagulum.
Cheese Milk and the Production of Cheese
In the present context, the term “cheese” may be any kind of cheese and includes, e.g., natural cheese, cheese analogues and processed cheese. The cheese may be obtained by any suitable process known in the art, such as, e.g., by enzymatic coagulation of the cheese milk with rennet, or by acidic coagulation of the cheese milk with food grade acid or acid produced by lactic acid bacteria growth. In one embodiment, the cheese manufactured by the process of the invention is rennet-curd cheese. Thus, in one embodiment, the cheese is manufactured with rennet. In step b) of the process of the invention the cheese milk may be subjected to a conventional cheese-making process. Rennet is commercially available, e.g. as Naturen® (animal rennet), Chy-max® (fermentation produced chymosin), Microlant® (Microbial coagulant produced by fermentation), all from Chr-Hansen A/S, Denmark).
Processed cheese may be manufactured from natural cheese or cheese analogues by cooking and emulsifying the cheese including emulsifying salts (e.g. phosphates and citrate), and may also include spices/condiments. In one embodiment, the cheese product of the process of the invention is not processed cheese.
By cheese analogues is understood cheese-like products, in which part of the composition is non-milk constituents, such as e.g. vegetable oil. Another example for cheese analogue is cheese base. The process of the present invention is applicable in producing cheese analogues as long as the product contains fat (e.g. milk fat, such as, e.g., cream) as a part of the composition.
The cheeses produced by the process of the present invention comprise all varieties of cheese, such as, e.g. Campesino, Chester, Danbo, Drabant, Herregård, Manchego, Provolone, Saint Paulin, Soft cheese, Svecia, Taleggio, White cheese, including rennet-curd cheese produced by rennet-coagulation of the cheese curd; ripened cheeses such as Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Muenster, Gryere, Emmenthal, Camembert, Parmesan and Romano; fresh cheeses such as Mozzarella and Feta; acid coagulated cheeses such as cream cheese, Neufchatel, Quarg, Cottage Cheese and Queso Blanco; and pasta filata cheese. One embodiment relates to the production of pizza cheese by the process of the invention.
In cheese manufacturing the coagulation of the casein in milk may be performed in two ways: the so-called rennet-curd and acid-curd cheese. In cheese production these two types of curds makes up two major groups of cheese types. Fresh acid-curd cheeses refer to those varieties of cheese produced by the coagulation of milk, cream or whey via acidification or a combination of acid and heat, and which are ready for consumption once the manufacturing without ripening are completed. Fresh acid-curd cheeses generally differ from rennet-curd cheese varieties (e.g. Camberbert, Cheddar, Emmantal) where coagulation normally is induced by the action of rennet at pH values 6.4-6.6, in that coagulation normally occurs close to the isoelectric point of casein, i.e. e.g. at pH 4.6 or at higher values when elevated temperatures are used, e.g. in Ricottta pH 6.0 and 80° C. In a preferred embodiment of the invention,
Garbell Jason I.
Lambris Elias J.
Novozymes A/S
Paden Carolyn
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