Chymosin Addition for Yogurt Making from Camel Milk

Despite the many formulations proposed for yogurt making from camel milk, difficulties to obtain firm curds with desirable gustatory quality still arise. We propose herein a formulation using selected food grade additives to achieve a reliable gelation while preserving the typical sensory properties of yogurt. The main difference from previous studies being the addition of a small amount of chymosin (Marzyme (TM)) that does not, by itself, coagulate the milk; yet, it can contribute to the gelation and/or stimulate the growth of the starter culture bacteria by a limited proteolysis. Two concentrations of the enzyme (20 and 40 IMCU L-1) were tested and found suitable for milk gelation when used with gelatin (0.4% w/v), starch (1.2% w/v), and skim milk powder (5% or 7% w/v). The sensory evaluation showed that the formulations using 7% SMP scored highest regardless of the Marzyme (TM) concentration used. This method could be useful to standardize yogurt or yogurt-like product at industrial scale for worldwide formal commercialization.