Enhancing cheese yield by phospholipase treatment of cheese milk

An increase in the retention of milkfat in the form of cheese, and thus increase in cheese yield, has been a major driver in the design of cheese equipment and process optimisation. A new alternative enzyme technology has now been proven effective in reducing the fat losses into the whey. Addition of the phospholipase A1 enzyme (PLA1), YieldMAX (TM) PL to the cheese milk has given a significant increase in cheese yield in production of Mozzarella cheeses. PLA1 is a phospholipase, which cleaves the p-1 position in phospholipids, an important part of the fat globule membrane. The effect of phospholipase A1 addition to the cheese milk was initially determined using pilot plant facilities of 150 L cheese vats producing mozzarella cheese, followed up by industrial validation trials. The application of phospholipase has given a significant reduction of fat losses and a significant increased cheese yield of more than 1% after moisture adjustment. Cheese functionality and sensory attributes are not significantly influenced by the PLA1 treatment of the milk and neither is the downstream processing of the whey.