Effect of different biocoagulants on the amino acid content of soft cheese (wara) produced from sheep milk

Soft cheese (wara) is an unripened cheese consumed in several parts of West Africa due to its various nutritional qualities. Soft cheese, a coagulated product of raw milk is usually produced from cow milk using Calotropis procera. This study therefore sought to assess the effect of the different coagulants such as Calotropis procera, Carica papaya, lemon juice and steep water from cereals (maize, millet and sorghum) on the amino acid content of soft cheese produced from sheep milk. Raw milk sample was collected from sheep and processed into soft cheese by these coagulants and the amino acid composition of the sample was carried out using standard methods. The result revealed that Calotropis procera coagulated soft cheese has the highest essential amino acid content Leucine (10.21 g/100 g), while steep water from millet coagulated soft cheese has the lowest essential amino acid content methionine (0.72 g/100 g). However, lemon juice coagulated soft cheese has the highest non essential amino acid glutamic acid (16.27 g/100 g) in all the cheese samples. In conclusion, this study revealed that highly nutritious soft cheese can also be gotten from sheep milk other than the commonly used cow milk and other coagulants such as lemon juice can compete favorably well with Calotropis procera in production of highly nutritious soft cheese. It is therefore recommended that soft cheese produced from sheep milk coagulated by lemon juice should be incorporated into daily diet due to its highly nutritional content.