Effect of milk coagulation properties of herd bulk milks on yield and composition of Emmental cheese

The effect of milk coagulation properties of herd bulk milks on cheese yield, and on composition of cheese and cheese whey was estimated using milks that were collected from two herd groups each consisting of 4 herds. The herd groups differed from one another in milk coagulation properties. Frequencies of α s1 -casein C allele, β-casein A 1 and B alleles, and κ-casein B allele; proportion of Finnish Friesian cows in a herd; and concentrations of κ-casein, α-lactalbumin, and β-lactoglobulin were higher for the group with good milk coagulation properties than for that with poor properties. Two Emmental cheeses were made of milk of each group, and about 740 l of milk was used to produce one cheese. On average 2 kg more cheese was obtained from milk with good coagulation properties than from milk with poor properties. The dry matter content of the cheeses was higher, and the fat and casein contents in the cheese whey were lower for the well-coagulating than for the poorly coagulating milk. These observations suggest that improvement of coagulation properties of herd bulk milk would improve the efficiency of cheese-making.