EVALUATION OF CHEDDAR AND COTTAGE CHEESE PRODUCTION FROM DOE AND EWE MILK

The study was aimed to produce cheddar and cottage cheese from doe and ewe milk. The sources of milk were from Arsi Negele and Kofele areas of Oromiya region. Cheddar cheeses were made from whole doe, whole ewe milk and their mixtures contained ratio of 25, 50 and 75% of doe and ewe milk using standard procedure for cheddar cheese processing technology. The proximate, microbiological, Physico-chemical, sensory analysis and yield calculation of the cheeses were made at chemical Engineering laboratory, Holleta agricultural research center, Ethiopian health and nutrition research institute.The proximate analysis result showed that cheeses made from 100% doe milk had the lowest moisture content (27.77%) and highest fat content (54.80%) but a lower yield (0.66kg/5kg of whole milk) compared to cheeses made from 100% ewe milk (35.29%, 30.1%, 0.88kg/5kg of whole milk respectively). Other mix ratios had intermediate values between the two specious of cheese (p<0.05). No significant differences in the values of protein, total solid and lactose content of sampled cheeses were found. Microbiological results showed that all cheeses made were within the limit range for acceptable conditions for consumers (< 1* 104 cfu/g). Physico – chemical analysis result showed that whole ewe milk had highest viscosity of all cheeses (3.04mPas). Three main stage of cheddar cheese making was considered for pH measurement. These stages were ripening, cooking and cheddaring.