MinCurd – Influence of mineral interactions on curd properties

Dairy minerals, and especially calcium, contribute to modulating the texture, taste and functionality of most dairy products, especially cheeses. However, deep molecular and structural knowledge is still lacking in many processing steps of cheese making. The focus of this project is to understand how the calcium concentration and its different forms present in skim milk concentrates can influence cheese-making by achieving outstanding texture and functionality, while enhancing yield. Both melting and non-melting cheese products are included in the study. 

By: Anne Lau Heckmann

The aim of this project is to generate new insights into the influence of calcium forms on cheese-making and, thus, on curd functionality and structure. As cheese making can be approached in countless ways, various properties can be achieved, including melting or non-melting functionality. One of the main milk components responsible for the final properties of cheese is calcium. The objective of this project is to understand the physicochemical, structure and molecular interaction from nano- to macro-scale, driving curd formation as a function of different calcium concentrations and its speciation. 

The project will provide new knowledge on how to improve cheese functionality for melting and non-melting cheese applications. Hence, a systematic and comprehensive study with state-of-the-art methodologies is needed to understand and quantify how curd is produced from milk concentrates, as a function of different calcium levels (building on established knowledge at University of Copenhagen) that influence structure, molecular interactions and techno-functionality of curd produced via acidification, renneting or combinations of the two. MinCurd aims to tackle this knowledge gap, using cutting-edge advanced methodologies, from molecular interactions (protein-protein and protein-to-minerals) to macro properties of the curds along with in-situ structure characterization methods, such as scattering techniques and imaging.