Effect of Type of Acid Used in Direct Acidification Procedures
on Moisture, Firmness, and Calcium Levels of Cheese
A. E. SHEHATA, 3 MEENA IYER, N. F. OLSON, and T. RICHARDSON
Department of Food Science and Industries, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Abstract
Blue cheese was made by direct acidifica-
tion of milk, with phosphoric, hydrochloric,
lactic, and citric acids prior to rennet co-
agulation. These acids except citric were
used to make Pizza cheese. Calcium levels
were significantly higher in both varieties
of cheese made with phosphoric acid; Blue
cheese made with citric acid had the lowest
calcium level. Cheese made with phosphoric
and hydrochloric acids had lower moisture
contents and were firmer th~n cheese made
with lactic or citric acids.
Systems which have been deveIoped for the
continuous production of cheese curd depend
upon acid development by lactic cultures during
a preripening stage or by hydrolyzable acidu-
lants or upon direct acidification of milk prior
to rennet coagulation (1-4, 6, 10, 11). I n the
systems using direct acidification for manufac-
ture of Blue and Pizza cheese, the p H of the
milk was adjusted to 5.6 at 4.4 C with food
grade acids and the milk coagulated with ren-
net (16, 18). The curd was formed under qui-
escent conditions and then cut into cubes by
traditional procedures or the milk was agitated
during coagulation. Small flocs of curd which
formed during the continuous agitation pro-
cedure aggregated with further stirring. The
cubes and aggregates of curd were then handled
by traditional procedures. Formation of curd
by direct acidification procedures would be ex-
pected to alter the rate of coagulation, char-
acteristics of the curd, equilibria of the milk
salts, level of calcium associated with the casein,
and retention of minerals in the curd (7, 9, 12,
14, 15).
While the effects of decreases in p H on curd
formation and curd characteristics made by
traditional or direct acidification procedures
l~eeeived for publication December 20, 1966.
1 Published with permission of the Director of
the Agricultural Experiment Station, University
of Wisconsin, Madison.
This study was supported in part by a gran~
from Cooperative Research Service, United States
Department of Agrlcu]ture.
s Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Ein
Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, U.A.R.
824
are well-established, the effect of type of acid
used in direct acidification has not been in-
vestigated thoroughly. Our study was under-
taken to dete~nine the effects of type of acid
on composition and firmness of curd and calcium
retention in curd made by direct acidification.
Methods
Cheese manufacture. Blue cheese was manu-
factured from milk standardized to 4.0% fat
by blending pasteurized, homogenized (2,000
psi) 35% cream and raw skimmilk. Portions
of the milk were acidified to p H 5.6 at 4.4 C
with concentrated hydrochloric, phosphoric, lac-
tic, or citric acids and made into cheese by the
procedure in Table 1 (18). I n certain trials
0.5% lactic starter culture was added to lower
the p H after manufacturing.
Pizza cheese was made by the procedure of
Larson et al. (16), as given in Table 2. Milk
used for cheese making was standardized to
2.0% fat by blending pasteurized, homogenized
(500 psi), whole milk with pasteurized skim-
milk.
Curd firmness. Firmness measurenmnts were
made, with a Precision Junior Penetrometer
(17), of curd prior to whey drahlage, of Blue
cheese after 18-hr drainage in open-ended hoops,
and of Pizza cheese after brine-salting for 24
hr. Curd at draining was removed from the
whey with a strainer scoop and prepared for
firnmess measurements by methods of Emmons
and Price (8). Cylindrical samples of cheese,
2.5 cm in diameter and 8.0 cm deep, were
fitted tightly into the cylindrical sample con-
TABLE 1
Manufacturing procedure for Blue cheese usirLg
direct acidification techniques
Temperature
Operation Time (C)
Acidify milk to pH 5.6 8:00 4.4
Add rennet
50 ml/453.6 kg milk 8:20 30.0
Cut (cubes-l.27 cma) 8:50 30.0
Steam on 8:50 30.0
Steam off 9:10 35.6
Drain whey 9:55 35.6
Hoop (add mold spores) 10:00
Curd allowed to drain
overnight in hoops without
added pressure
 EFFECTS OF ACIDS ON CHEESE 825

TABLE 2 7O i I
Msaufacturing procedure for Pizza cheese using • PHOSPHORIC ACID
direct acidification and continuous agitation O HYDROCHLORIC ACID
techniques u.I A LACTIC ACID
Temperature Z~
Operation Time (C) Z~
Acidify milk to pH 5.6 8:00 4.4
Add rennet 0
100 ml/453.6 kg milk 8:20 35.0 0
Stir continuously
during coagulation on
Settle curd 8:35 35.0
Begin whey drainage 8:40 35.0 ~- 4O
End whey drainage 8:50 35.0
Begin st_retching and U.l
molding curd in water n
at 82.2 C 8:50
Curd is cooled and brine- 3.0 I I I
salted for 24 hr at 7.2 C 48 49 50 51 52
CHEESE MOISTURE (%)
FIG. 1. Relationship between firmness and mois-
tainer used by Emmons and Price. A cone- ture levels of Pizza cheese made with different
tipped cylinder weighing 50.64 g was allowed acids. Measurements were fallen after brine-
to penetrate into samples of curd or cheese for salthlg.
5 see. Results are expressed in millimeters of
penetration of the needle. II0 I I I I I
Cheese analyses. Moisture in cheese was de- • PHOSPHORIC ACID
termined by drying 3-g samples in 50-ml bea- Ul O HYDROCHLORIC ACID
kers in a forced-draft oven at 110 C for 16 hr. aJ IOO -• CITRIC ACID A
Cheese samples were prepared for calcium analy- A LACTIC ACID A
A
sis as described by Weik (19). Calcium levels 9.0
were determined by titration with ethylenedi-
amine tetraacetate after passing the sample O
O
through a column packed with Duolite A-4 to
remove phosphates (13). Duplicate calcium
analyses were made on each lot of cheese. OIL 0
n.. E 7.C
Results
Z~" 6£
uJ
Cheese m o ~ t u r e levels. M o i s t u r e levels m the 8_
finished B l u e a n d P i z z a cheese w e r e affected
I I I I I
similarly by the type of acid used to acidify 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
milk. Mean moisture percentages for Blue CHEESE MOISTURE ("7.)
cheese made with phosphoric, hydrochloric, :FIG. 2. Relationship between firmness and mois-
lactic, and citric acids were 45.56, 46.60, 48.54, ture levels of Blue cheese made with different
and 47.61% in lots made with 0.5% lactic cul- a~ids. Measurements were taken after overnight
ture, and 47.69, 47.64, 49.09, and 50.48% in draining.
lots made without added culture. Mean mois-
ture levels in Pizza cheese made with phos- tween firmness and moisture was not shown for
phoric, hydrochloric, and lactic acids were 49.72, Blue cheese made without lactic culture. Gas
50.39, and 50.75%. production in this cheese during overnight
Cheese firmness. Blue cheese prior to drain- drainage at room temperature obviated firm-
age of whey and after 18-hr drainage in hoops ness nleasurements.
was firmer when made from milk acidified with Lactic cultures altered the relative mois-
phosphoric and hydrochloric acids than milk ture and firmness of Blue cheese made with
acidified with lactic or citric acids. Pizza cheese lactic and citric acids. When cultures were
was also firmer when phosphoric and hydro- used, cheese made with citric acid was firmer
chloric acids were used as acidulants rather and lower in moisture than cheese made with
than lactic acid. A consistent relationship ex- lactic acid (Figure 2). The opposite was true
isted between moisture levels and firmness for when lactic cultures were not used. The dif-
both varieties of cheese made with the different ferences apparently were established during
acids (Figures 1 and 2). The relationship be- overnight draining, since curd made with citric
~'. DAIRY SCIENCE VOL. 50, NO. 6
826 SHEHATA, IYER, OLSON, AND RICHARDSON
acid was softer at cutting and draining whether
or not lactic cultures were used.
Calcium content. Blue and Pizza cheese made
with phosphoric acid had significantly higher
calcium contents than cheese made with the
other acids (Table 3). Citric acid gave the
TABLE 3
Effect of type of acid on calcium content of Blue
and Pizza cheese made by direct acidification
procedures
mg Ca/g cheese solids
Type of
acid Blue" Pizzab
Phosphoric 9.91 11.47
Hydrochloric 7.41 8.99
Lactic 7.72 8.60
Citric 5.03
Means of two replicate trials.
b Means of four replicate trials.
lowest calcium levels in Blue cheese. Levels of
calcium in Blue cheese made with phosphoric
acid were 33.8, 28.3, and 97.0% higher than
cheese made with hydrochloric, lactic, and citric
acids, respectively. Pizza cheese made with
phosphoric acid contained 27.6 and 33.4% more
calcium than cheese made with hydrochloric and
lactic acids.
Discussion
The type of acid used to acidify milk before
coagulation with rennet in direct acidification
procedures for cheese manufacture had sig-
nificant effects on the composition and char-
acteristics of cheese. These effects were con-
sistent for Blue and Pizza cheese which differ
markedly in techniques of manufacturing.
Phosphoric acid had several advantages over
the other acids. Moisture losses were higher
from curd made with this acid, which would be
advantageous in an automated cheese making
system. The significantly higher calcium levels
in this cheese were comparable to levels in
cheese made by traditional procedures (13, 20).
The consistent relationship between firmness
and moisture content of cheese indicates that
the anionic species of acid influenced the level
of solvation of the cheese protein which fixed
the firmness level. The inconsistent effects of
the citrate ion in Blue cheese made with and
without lactic cultures may have been caused
by acid production by the culture. Curd made
from milk acidified with citric acid was softer
than curd made with other acids at the time
of cutting and at hooping. Production of acid
and the drop in p t I during subsequent over-
night draining caused greater syneresis of the
J . DAIRY SCIENCE VOL. 50, NO. 6
fragile citric acid curd as compared to curd
made with lactic acid. When lactic cultures
were not used and the significant drop in p i t
did not occur during overnight draining, the
curd made with citric acid was softer and had
a higher moisture content than curd made with
the other acids.
The higher calcium levels in cheese made with
phosphoric acid probably resulted from co-
precipitation of the calcium phosphate with
the milk protein. Creamer and Waugh observed
higher calcium levels in Ca-a,-casein precipitate
when phosphate was added to the casein solu-
tion before precipitation (5). They attributed
this to precipitation of calcium phosphate, and
also found an inverse relationship between cal-
cium content and solvation of precipitated
Ca-a~-easein. Cheese made with phosphoric
and citric acids in this study showed the same
inverse relationship between calcium and mois-
ture contents. The relationship did not hold
true for cheese made with lactic and hydro-
chloric acids.
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