Characterization of Equine Milk and Cheese Making

We have studied on characterization and cheese making like mineral contents, protein composition and coagulation pattern on equine milk. At first, for contents of mineral on equine milk, It was lower in equine than bovine milk Contents of Na, Mg, P, Ca and K the major minerals, were indicated as 18.3 mg, 0.4 mg, 33.3 mg, 80.9 mg and 134.9 mg respectively by 100 g. In the distribution of nitrogen, the ratio NPN to Nt was indicated as 9.8% while that of bovine milk was 7%. And In NCN, its percentage was indicated as 45.6% shelving that Equine casein was lower than bovine. From these results, equine milk could not be applicable to cheese production since there are no coagulable nitrogen fraction such as ${\kappa}$-casein, as there aye with bovine milk. Equine milk will be more acceptable if we accept that the phylogenic affinity is near to human. It is the same as equine from the view points that monogastric, which did not contain ruminant's casein. For the rennet coagulation, equine milk was different than bovine milk. Equine milk did not coagulated by rennet after the addition of $Ca^{2+}$. But when bovine ${\kappa}$-casein was added in the presece of rennet, and $Ca^{2+}$ to equine milk, coagulation occurred. Such phenomenon was also observed by the use SEM. Verification of ${\kappa}$-casein by SDS-PACE did not existed in equine milk. The Casein of equine milk(54.4%) is similar to human milk in that casein/whey is about 1. For equine milt this can be explained because distance between casein and Ca is great, casein being lower, which result in reaction of casein with $Ca^{2+}$ because it could not activated which lasting time of coagulation is too long.