Optimization of Papain Enzyme Utilization in Non-Rennet Cream Cheese Production

Abstract

In Indonesia, the method of cheese making by using papain enzyme which is obtained
from papaya fruit has already been practiced since the Dutch colonial era, especially in
Enrekang, regency at The South Sulawesi province. The product, Dangke, is a type of semi-soft
cheese with notable bitter taste. This research aims to develop new cream cheese product based
on papain-coagulated cheese with an acceptable appearance, aroma, texture and taste, made
from fresh milk and commercially pasteurized milk. To reduce the bitterness, CaCl2 were
introduced to the formula to help the curd formation process with less papain enzyme addition.
The unit of enzyme used was quantified using casein-tyrosine method with spectrophotometer
analysis at 578 nm. The minimum enzyme capable of curd formation was 3.76x10-3 mol/s.
Formula optimization was conducted with the variation of enzyme unit of 3.76x10-3, 7.52x10-3,
and 11.28x10-3 mol/s and CaCl2 addition of 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 g for 1 L of milk. Full Factorial
Design was used and curd quality and cream cheese viscosity were determined as responses.
Optimization using Design Expert to cheese viscosity between 50,000-56,750 cP using less
papain gives optimum formula of enzyme with unit of 3.76x10-3 mol/s and CaCl2 addition of 0.5
g, for both type of milk. Cream cheese developed using the formula was tested for sensory
evaluation. 54 untrained panelists gives score for hedonic test and cheese made from fresh milk
was in general gives higher scores in term of appearance (6.80), aroma (6.39), taste and texture
(6.63) and overall acceptance (6.65) compared to cream cheese made from commercially
pasteurized milk, with the score for appearance of 6.06, score for aroma of 6.07, score for taste
and texture of 5.52, and overall acceptance of 5.67. The cream cheese product developed in this
research shows potential for further development as non-rennet based cheese, especially for
utilization of papain.