β-Casein A2 affects milk renneting properties, cheese yield before and after ripening, and alters the texture of Caciotta cheese produced in field conditions

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of β-CN genetic variants on milk coagulation properties, curd and cheese yield, efficiency of cheesemaking, and quality of Caciotta cheese after 15 d of ripening. Thirty-three cheesemaking experiments were carried out at an on-farm pilot-scale dairy plant. For each cheesemaking day, small groups of cows were selected and milked separately to obtain 2 milk pools, 1 with high proportion of β-CN A1 and B in β-CN (A1B milk) and 1 with high proportion of β-CN A2 (A2 milk) in β-CN, respectively. Each milk pool originated from at least 2 cows and was processed into Caciotta cheese, producing 2 cheese wheels of commercial size. Differences across milk pools in milk composition, coagulation properties, curd yield measured by laboratory-scale microcheesemaking, cheese yield after stewing, brining, and 15 d of ripening, whey composition, recovery rates, as well as cheese composition, color, and texture were estimated using a set of mixed linear ...