摘要：Kaladhi is a hard and dry cheese variety of Jammu and Kashmir which is prepared by directly acidifying the milk with organic acid s without the use of rennet and starter. Storage quality of Kaladhi prepared by using different organic acid coagulants at their optimum level viz., 5% acetic acid, 5% citric acid and 5% lactic acid was assessed in terms of physicochemical, proximate, microbiological and sensory properties at ambient temperature (21-25°C) for 28 days. Fresh buffalo milk standardized to 5.5% fat and 9% SNF was used for the preparation of the product using different organic acid s as coagulants at 40°C and the Kaladhi prepared traditionally using day old whey as coagulant served as control. The results showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in most of the physico-chemical parameters i.e., titratable acidity, free fatty acid s (% Oleic acid) and thiobarbit uric acid (TBA) value. However, a significant (p<0.05) decrease in pH and most of the proximate parameters was observed. Similarly, sensory scores also decreased significantly (p<0.05) during the storage period in all the three types of Kaladhi prepared by using different organic acid coagulants. The microbial characters viz. total plate count and yeast and mold count increased significantly (p<0.05) throughout the storage period. The yeast and mold counts were observed to increase rather rapidly and incessantly beyond 14 days of storage. Based on various physico-chemical and sensory parameters, Kaladhi prepared from lactic acid at 5% level proved to be optimum with 11.14% yield, 32.54% moisture, 25.45% protein, 50.39% fat (on dry matter basis) and 2.44% ash.
