Effect Of Calcium Chloride Addition On Characteristics Of Cheddar Cheese

Addition of calcium chloride during cheddar cheese making can significantly reduce the coagulation time and increase the gel strength. However, extensive addition of calcium chloride will increase the electrostatic repulsion and hinder the formation of the gel. In order to determine the appropriate content of calcium chloride and its effects on the quality of cheddar cheese, 5 different treatments(control, pre-acidification treatment, calcium chloride addition with 100 mg/L, 200 mg/L, 500 mg/L calcium chloride) were conducted and analyzed in an accelerating ripening condition. During the 6 weeks’ ripening, insoluble calcium content, protein hydrolysis, texture analysis, volatile flavor and sensory analysis were tested to study the influence of calcium chloride addition on the ripening of cheddar cheese. In order to verify the results from the accelerating model, calcium chloride addition treatments(200 mg/L、500 mg/L), low calcium treatment(pre-acidification), and low calcium with calcium chloride addition treatment(pre-acidification with calcium chloride addition of 200 mg/L、500 mg/L) were investigated for the composition of casein, particle size, stability, flavor and quality of cheddar cheese. During ripening, basic physical and chemical indicators, composition of casein, insoluble calcium content, volatile flavor, free amino acids, free fatty acid and sensory evaluation of cheddar cheese were determined.The results of the acceleration model showed that calcium addition can significantly reduce the protein hydrolysis and bitterness, increase the hardness and elasticity of the cheese samples. Addition of 200 mg/L calcium chloride addition had no significance influence on the results of sensory analysis. Addition of 500 mg/L calcium chloride addition can significantly reduce viscosity and cohesion of the cheese samples, which became crumbly and pulverous. Therefore the recommended calcium addition content is 200 mg/L for cheddar cheese procedding based on the results of the acceleration experiment.The results of the normal ripening showed that the sensitivity of different casein to calcium was as follows: αS2-CN > αs1-CN > β-CN, which is due to the number of phosphoric acid serine residue. Calcium chloride addition significantly increased the soluble and insoluble calcium content in milk and total calcium in cheese, but had no significant effects on protein, fat, salt, water content and pH of cheddar cheese. During the ripening of cheddar cheese, calcium chloride can significantly increase the insoluble calcium content and decrease the protein hydrolysis. In the TPA analysis, cheddar cheese with calcium chloride addition was found to have a higher hardness and elasticity and a lower viscosity. After 6 months’ maturation, the determination of casein in cheddar cheese showed that the addition of calcium chloride significantly reduced the hydrolysis of αs1-CN, one of the main sources of bitter peptide. At the same time, the free amino acid content and sensory evaluation showed significant decrease of bitterness for the calcium chloride addition treatments.To sum up, this study researched the effect of calcium chloride addition on the characteristics of cheddar cheese, the result showed that 200 mg/L calcium chloride addition can improve the quality properties and significantly reduce the bitter taste of cheddar cheese.