Effect of brine concentration on physico-chemical characteristics, texture, rheological properties and proteolysis level of cheeses produced by an optimized wild cardoon rennet.

The main objective of this study was to test the efficiency of a wild cardoon () rennet, previously optimized by response surface methodology, in cheese making process; then to select the best brine concentration, leading to excellent cheese quality. Results showed that the optimized rennet and chymosin produced curds with similar properties (yield, colour, texture, viscoelasticity), suggesting that this coagulant could replace successfully calf rennet. After brining at different salt concentrations (5, 7, 10 and 15%), we concluded that the use of 15% of salt in brine was an efficient way to reduce considerably the proteolysis level in cheeses, stored for 28 d at 4 °C. At this salt level, the highest hardness, gumminess, viscoelasticity and yield of soft cheeses were also recorded. In conclusion, the satisfactory findings could open new opportunities to produce industrially the optimized rennet and its cheeses in the Mediterranean area.