Abstract: Three different coagulants, δ-gluconolactone, magnesium chloride and papain were individually used to prepare fresh soft soymilk cheese from cooked soymilk. Key process parameters such as inoculum amount of starter culture, coagulant level and NaCl level were optimized by means of orthogonal array design. Soymilk cheeses obtained from these three coagulants were comparatively tested for the major physical and chemical properties and sensory characteristics. The results showed that the optimal levels of starter culture, coagulant and NaCl were the same for the preparation of soymilk cheeses using δ-gluconolactone or magnesium chloride, which were 0.020%, 0.20% and 1.0%, respectively; the optimal levels of starter culture, CaCl2, coagulant and NaCl for the preparation of papain-coagulated soymilk cheese were 0.010%, 0.02%, 0.05% and 1.0%, respectively. The soymilk cheeses obtained with the different coagulants had similar water contents. The papain-coagulated soymilk cheese received the highest sensory evaluation score, the magnesium chloride-coagulated one had the highest protein content, and the highest cheese productivity was achieved through coagulation with δ-gluconolactone. Although the cow,s milk cheese and the soymilk cheese prepared under the same technological parameters had similar protein contents, the fat content of the latter represented only one-third of that of the former and the latter showed higher water content and productivity and a slightly lower sensory evaluation score. Fresh soft soymilk cheese may be considered as a low-fat healthy substitute for fresh soft cow,s milk cheese.

Key words: soymilk cheese, soymilk, coagulation, texture, technology