Abstract:
Mozzarella, originally made from buffalo milk, is an unripened, soft and white cheese in which melting and
stretching properties are highly suitable for pizza making. Although, the demand for mozzarella cheese is
increasing due to the expansion of pizza huts and fast food chains, very few dairy companies in Sri Lanka
engage in its manufacture. There is a big potential to introduce mozzarella cheese making as a cottage
level industry with easily available raw materials. A 3-factor factorial experiment in a Complete
Randomized Design was carried out to find out the combined effect of milk source buffalo milk & buffalo
milk: cow milk at 1:1 ratio), starter culture (Direct Vat Set & commercial yoghurtJ and incubation
temperature (32 & 42"C) on quality of mozzarella cheese. Significantly [P<0.05) higher pH and yield of
cheese was observed when the cheese milk was incubated at 32"C irrespective of the milk source and the
starter culture used. Market control had the lowest % moisture and highest % of total solids compared to
the experimental cheeses. Meltability of cheese was observed to be significantly [P<0.05) higher in the
market control which could be due to the storage effect. Cheese made using combination of cow and
buffalo milk with Direct Vat Set culture and incubated at 42"C had better sensory characters compared to
the other treatments and was comparable to the market control.
