Production and Quality Evaluation of Cheese from Soy and Coconut Milk Using Selected Coagulants

Cheese was produced from soy milk, cow milk and coconut milk using lime, lemon and rennet as coagulants. The effect of these coagulants on proximate composition, coagulation time, percentage yield, peroxide value, Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substance (TBA-RS), micro-biological and sensory qualities of the formulated cheese was evaluated using standard methods. Nine samples were designed for this study. The moisture content of rennet coagulated cheese was significantly higher than lime and lemon coagulated cheese, while the protein content of lime coagulated cheese was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than those of lemon and rennet coagulated cheese. The crude fat and total ash contents of cheese made from cow milk were superior to those made from soy milk and coconut milk. The fibre content of lime coagulated cheese was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than lemon and rennet coagulated cheese. The coagulation time and percentage yield of the cheese samples did not follow a definite trend and ranged between 19-147 sec and 12.40-28.70% respectively. Aside samples DSL and HCL, all the other freshly prepared cheese samples fell within the standard value of 10 mEq/kg. However, with an increase in storage time, virtually all the samples became rancid. With an increase in storage time. Similar trend was observed in the TBA-RS of the cheese samples. All the samples were microbiologically safe for human consumption and the cheese samples were organoleptically acceptable, since their sensory scores were above average. The study established that cheese produced from fresh cow milk, soy milk and coconut milk coagulated with lime, lemon and rennet showed to a large extent significant differences in their chemical composition, percentage yield and coagulation time. The peroxide value and TBA-RS determination from this study showed that the cheese could not stay longer than a day on the shelf, unless it is refrigerated.