GOAT MILK

Cheese is a dairy product made from pressed milk curds produced mainly from animal milk throughout the world where animal production is available. It is a nutritious food and one of the numerous products from the processing of milk of cows, goats, sheep, buffalos, camels and yaks. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein known as casein. Cheese is an important milk product with milk nutrients having good storage properties with increased shelf life. This study investigated the potential of using different coagulants - vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, and unripe papaya pulp in the production of goat milk cheese. The proximate composition, mineral content, and sensory attributes of Mozzarella and Cream Cheese produced with these coagulants were analyzed and studied in the laboratory. The proximate composition analysis revealed significant differences in the moisture content (MC), crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) among the different treatments for both Mozzarella and cream cheese. Unripe papaya pulp consistently exhibited the highest values for CP and CF in both types of cheese having values 19.34 and 22.99 for Mozzarella cheese and Cream cheese respectively. This could be attributed to the coagulation process and the properties of the coagulants used. The mineral analysis showed significant variations in the calcium, phosphorus, and zinc content of the cheeses while lemon juice coagulant had the highest phosphorus content, the Zinc content varied among the treatments, with also lemon juice coagulant showing the highest values of 0.6467 and 0.6033 for Mozzarella and Cream cheese respectively. These differences are due to the varying mineral compositions of the coagulants used. The sensory analysis revealed differences in the appearance, smell, taste, texture, and overall acceptability of the cheeses. The discussion highlights the substantial impact of coagulant choice on cheese quality, integrating these findings with existing literature. Unripe papaya pulp emerged as a particularly promising coagulant, producing nutrient-dense cheese that meets both nutritional and sensory standards.