Factors influencing chymosin-induced gelation of milk from individual dairy cows: Major effects of casein micelle size and calcium

Optimisation of cheese yield is crucial for cheese production; a previous study showed large variations in chymosin-induced coagulation in milk from the second most common Swedish dairy breed, Swedish Red. In the present study, the effect of gross composition, protein composition, total and ionic calcium content, phosphorous content and casein micelle size on chymosin-induced gelation was determined in milk from 98 Swedish Red cows. The study showed that protein content and total calcium content, ionic calcium concentration and casein micelle size were the most important factors explaining the variation of gelation properties in this sample set. Non-coagulating milk was suggested to have lower ionic and total calcium content as well as lower relative concentrations of β-lactoglobulin than coagulating milk. The lower total calcium content in non-coagulating milk poses a problem as the difference was, theoretically, four times larger than the amount of calcium that is normally added in cheese processing.