Continuous coagulation of milk

Cheryan, M., Van Wyk, P. J., Olson, N. F. and Richardson, T. 1975A. Continuous coagulation of milk using immobilized enzymes in a fluidized-bed reactor. Biotechnoi Bioeng. 17, 585-598. 

Use of Immobilized Proteases to Clot Milk on a Continuous Basis. Immobilized proteases might be valuable in continuous coagulation of milk for cheese manufacture. Since the immobilized enzyme would not remain in the product, it may be possible to substitute a less expensive, less desirable, but more readily available enzyme which normally cannot be used, such as undesirable microbial proteases, instead of commercially available milk-clotting enzymes. 

The coagulation of renneted micelles is very temperature-dependent (Gio 16) and normal bovine milk does not coagulate <18°C unless [Ca ] is increased. The marked difference between the temperature dependence of the enzymatic and nonenzymatic phases of rennet coagulation has been exploited in the study of the effect of various factors on rennet coagulation, in attempts to develop a system for the continuous production of cheese or casein curd and in the application of immobilized rennets. The very high dependence on temperature of rennet coagulation suggests that hydrophobic interactions play a major role. 

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