Evaluation of production of Cheddar cheese from micellar casein concentrate

The production of Cheddar cheese using micellar casein concentrate (MCC), a novel milk ingredient powder with a high casein content (∼92%), was evaluated. Four types of Cheddar cheese were manufactured and ripened for 180 days from the following starting materials: standardised control milk (control), skim milk with cream (SC), reconstituted MCC with cream (MC) and reconstituted low-heat skim milk powder with cream (PC). Only minor differences were found in composition between treatments, but MC cheese showed higher levels of proteolysis compared with other treatments, linked to significantly higher plasmin and chymosin activities. No differences were observed in hardness between treatments (60, 120 and 180 days), but the springiness and cohesiveness of MC and PC cheeses were significantly higher than that of the control and SC cheeses at 60, 120 and 180 days. The use of casein-dominant dairy streams thus has the potential for production of Cheddar cheese with tailored functionality.