Proteolytic activity of protease produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens IB 2312 in skimmed milk subject to the process of high pressure homogenization

Abstract

The presence of thermoresistant proteases produced by psychrotrophic microorganisms have been identified as a limiting factor of the UHT milk shelflife, causing undesirable changes in milk products. High pressure homogenization (HPH) processing is a non-thermal method of food preservation, able to promotes the microbiological safety and inactivation of some enzymes. Thus, this work assessed the proteolytic activity of protease produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens in skim milk subjected to high pressure homogenization process. The milk samples were added by the protease enzymatic extract (10% v/v) and subjected to pressures up to 300 MPa. The assays showed that pressures on the order of 300 MPa caused a 72.5% reduction in proteolytic activity. Therefore, the process at high pressures resulted in significant inactivation of this thermoresistent enzyme, which possibly favors the shelf-life extension of the UHT milk and also limits the yield and quality loss of cheeses due to undesirable sensory changes in flavor and texture caused by this enzyme.