A STUDY ON EFFECT OF ADDED NEUTRALISERS ON RENNET COAGULATION TIME (RCT) OF MILK.

The present paper attempts to study the effect of neutralizers on rennet coagulation time for milk. The findings reveals that, the rennet induced coagulation of milk is an essential and important in cheese manufacturing process, as it influences the quality and yield of cheese. Acidity favors coagulation of milk by rennet but alkalinity disfavors coagulation both acidity and pH were closely related to RCT for all types of milk. The calcium ions are added in the form of CaCI2 to speed up its activity, inhibitory substances like albumin and globulin retard clotting of milk and homogenization promotes clotting of milk. After neutralizations of sour milk it behaves mostly like normal milk as far as heat processing and other operations are concerned. However the quality of dairy products from neutralized milk is found to be very low. The cheese made from neutralized cow and mixed milk was observed to have yellowish color, loose body, more sticky texture where as cheese made from fresh buffalo milk has white in color, soft body, smooth texture and possessed pleasant flavor. Paneer prepared from neutralized milk showed soft body and smoky flavor. Smoky flavor increases with increase in the concentrations of neutralizers in milk. The yield of paneer is also reduced due to low recovery of total solids from neutralized milk.