The Physicochemical Characteristics and Protein Profile of Cottage Cheese Produced by Using Crude Bromelain Enzyme Extracted from Ananas Comosus

Abstract

The utilization of an alternative enzyme for rennet substitution in cheese production offers promising potential for product diversification. In this research, the physicochemical characteristics and protein profile of cottage cheese made by using the crude extract of bromelain enzyme from Ananas comosus were evaluated. The observed variables include protein, fat, water, and ash content, as well as the cottage cheese yields, texture, meltability and protein profile. The research was conducted in a completely randomized design with 3 different bromelain concentrations at 1.5% (K1); 3% (K2); and 4.5% (K3) and each was replicated for 4 times. The obtained data were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and followed with the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test to measure significant differences, while the protein profile of the cottage cheese was observed by using SDS-PAGE and analyzed descriptively. The different enzyme concentrations showed that the different bromelain concentrations had significant differences (P<0.01) to the overall physicochemical properties of the cottage cheese, with the protein content at 11.50 to 12.64%; fat content at 2.13 to 5.21%; water content at 56.01 to 57.65%; and ash content at 0.59 to 1.68%. The produced cottage cheese had yields at 8.46 to 10.62%; texture at 3.67 to 3.81 N; and meltability at 1.89 to 2.82%, while the protein profile observation showed different bands at 4.58 to 160.47 kDa. The research concludes that 3% bromelain concentration produces cottage cheese with the best physicochemical properties in this research, that contained 12.64±0.43% protein, 2.13±0.90% fat, 56.06±0.22% water, 0.59±0.38% ash, with cheese texture of 3.81±0.11 N and 282±0.13% meltability from a total yield of 10.62±0.06%.