Effect of Sheep’s Milk Composition on Strength and Syneresis of Rennet-Induced Milk Gel During Lactation

摘要

This study investigates the effects of raw sheep’s milk composition on the strengthand syneresis of obtained gels throughout the lactation. Casein, fat and total solids content,as well as ionic calcium mass fraction significantly (p0.05) increased during lactation.As lactation progressed, milk formed firmer gel with higher syneresis ability. Increasingcasein to fat ratio in sheep’s milk significantly increased (p0.05) gel strength and syneresis.On the other hand, gel strength and syneresis were significantly reduced as a resultof increased fat content in sheep’s milk. Ionic calcium mass fraction affected gel strengthbut not syneresis. Neither gel strength nor syneresis were affected by casein and ureacontent or by somatic cell count in sheep’s milk. Correlation coefficients between milkcomponents and gel strength, as well as syneresis, were significant (p0.01, p0.05) butnever higher than 0.35.