Assay of proteinases of psychrotrophic bacteria in milk using hide powder azure and a simple procedure for clarification of milk

Review: Selected indicators of the quality of thermal processed milk / Revisión: Indicadores seleccionados para el control de calidad de la leche tratada térmicamente

Selected indicators of the quality of processed milk are reviewed in three sections: indices of heat treatment, detection of adulterations and assessment of shelf life. The characterization of the thermal process to which milk was submitted can be achieved by measuring either the formation of new compounds (lactulose, furosine) or the degradation of thermolabile constituents (enzymes, whey proteins). The presence of certain compounds may indicate fraudulent additions committed for eco nomic reasons. Finally, residual or reactivated heat stable enzymes may cause serious storage defects in UHT milk and, therefore, the proteolytic and lipolytic activities and the degree of protein and lipid degradation are useful predictors of the shelf life. Different analytical methods for the determination of the selected quality indicators are also summarized.

Measurement of proteolysis in milk and cheese using trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid and a new dissolving reagent

Milk contains indigenous plasmin-like and thrombin-like proteinases and also exogenous proteinases, mainly extracellular enzymes of psychrotrophic bacteria. Their activities lead to protein hydrolysis which may have important effects on milk quality and cheese yield. It is also useful to estimate proteolysis and its development during cheese ripening.

Milk opacity or turbidity due to calcium phosphocaseinate micelles and fat globules necessitates preliminary sample treatment, i.e. precipitation and filtration before spectrophotometric measurement. It is possible to eliminate these firs steps of sample treatment by dispersing the colloidal constituents. Some authors have already used different dissolving mixtures for sample analysis. Nakai & Anh Chi Le (1970) were the first to determine protein contents of milk and dairy products by absorbance measurement at 280 nm after clarification. Bosset & Blanc (1977) used the Biuret method. Owen & Andrews (1984) measured free amino groups with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS). Humbert et al. (1982) and Stead (1987) used synthetic or specific substrates for proteinase determination.

In this work, we report the application of a new dissolving reagent to measure free amino groups in milk and cheese.

Production of extracellular lipases and proteinases during prolonged growth of strains of psychrotrophic bacteria in whole milk

Three strains of psychrotrophic Pseudomonas spp., each with different lipolytic and proteolytic phenotypes (including a proteinase-deficient mutant), were cultured separately in whole milk at 7 degrees C. Growth rates were the same during logarithmic growth phase, but during early stationary phase the cell densities were related to the activities of lipase and proteinase in the cultures. Only one strain underwent pronounced death phase. Proteinase activity was not detected in the culture of the proteinase-deficient mutant, but in those of the other strains it increased to a plateau, or continued to increase linearly. Lipase activity of the culture of each strain reached a peak in early stationary phase; in late stationary phase activity was highest for the proteinase-deficient mutant strain where degradation of lipase by bacterial proteinase would have been least. The ability of psychrotrophic bacteria both to survive for long periods and to produce high levels of proteinases and lipases on prolonged incubation in milk emphasizes the spoilage potential arising from psychrotrophic bacteria in inadequately cleaned dairy equipment.