Villacréz Chavez, GrégorGrimaldo Chávez, SegundoRivera Botonares, RalphVilca Valqui, Nuri CaritoZzuta Puscan, MarileydiOliva, ManuelTineo, Daniel2025-05-162025-05-162024-10-25Villacréz Chavez, G., Chávez, S. G., Rivera Botonares, R., Vilca Valqui, N. C., Zuta Puscan, M., Oliva, M., & Tineo, D. (2024). Fresh cheese production using freeze-dried papain as a vegetable coagulant. Brazilian Journal of Food Technology, 27, e2024006. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-6723.006241981-6723http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12955/2739The study examined the efficacy of freeze-dried papain enzyme obtained from three Vasconcellea species (V. pubescens, V. chachapoyensis, V. heilbornii) as a natural coagulant in cheese making. Notably, the enzyme V. pubescens demonstrated the most promising results when concentrations of 2 g/L, 4 g/L, and 6 g/L were used to produce fresh cheese, while other enzyme species exhibited lower efficacy. The optimal yield of fresh cheese with minimal residual enzyme was achieved when a 2 g/L dose of papain enzyme was employed at a coagulation temperature of 30 °C, resulting in physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics comparable to those produced with commercial Hansen's rennet. Nevertheless, an increase in the coagulation temperature (42 °C) and a higher dose of papain enzyme (4 g/L) resulted in a reduction in the yield of fresh cheese and; consequently, the residual enzyme increased. Further studies are required to determine the purity of freeze-dried papain and the most effective dosage to increase profitability for producers and consumers. Such findings could facilitate the ecological application of this alternative in producing of fresh cheese.application/pdfenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/EnzymeFreeze-dried papainFresh cheeseVegetable coagulantCheese productionPapain.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttps://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#4.00.00https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-6723.00624Queso fresco; Coagulantes; Papaína; Enzimas; Liofilización; Coagulación