The effect of rennet obtained by different production techniques on erzincan tulum cheese quality

Erzincan Tulum Cheese, which has a history of about a hundreds of years, is a registered product (PDO) for Erzincan province and its districts. Carrying out its production at a certain altitude in a certain area and using lamb rennet for coagulation, goat skin (tulum) or plastic box as packaging materials and Kemah salt in salting is among its distinctive features. The different type, quantity and microbiological quality of the rennet used in the production of Erzincan Tulum Cheese affects some physical, chemical, microbiological, sensory properties and maturation criteria. In this study, the effect of traditional and commercial rennet use on the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory quality of Erzincan Tulum cheese, whose production is carried out in accordance with the traditional production method in line with the stages specified in the Geographical Indication Registration Certificate, has been investigated. For this purpose, Erzincan Tulum cheeses produced were stored for 150 days and analyzed on the 1st, 30th, 60th, 90th, 120th and 150th days. According to the results obtained; It has been determined that traditional rennet, which uses local herbal extracts in the production of Erzincan Tulum cheese, does not cause any negativity in the cheese quality criteria, on the contrary, it improves the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory qualities of the cheese. While the use of traditional or commercial rennet did not cause a significant difference in color, crosscut appearance, body and texture and odor scores of cheese samples, it was determined that taste scores of cheese samples produced with traditional rennet were significantly higher. The highest taste scores in the sensory panel belong to the PC sample produced with traditional type 1 rennet.