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Article: Control location and activity of plasmin components in dairy products.
- Article from:
- Emerging Food R&D Report
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Food Technology Intelligence, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Plasmin, the major native milk serine proteinase, is an important contributor to proteolytic breakdown in milk and dairy products. Plasmin activity has beneficial proteolytic effects during the ripening of certain cheeses. Plasmin breaks down casein. It reduces the time needed to ripen cheese, which would have enormous economic benefits for cheese manufacturers.
Plasmin exists predominantly in fresh milk in its inactive form, plasminogen, which is converted to active plasmin by plasminogen activators. It is not clear how these plasmin system components are affected by whey proteins and bacteria in milk, but this is important to understand as we seek to reduce the ...