Hydrolysis of proteins in cheddar cheese whey and utilization as a growth medium for lactic acid bacteria

Cheddar cheese whey is the major by-product obtained during the manufacturing of cheese. Cheese whey was hydrolysed with four different proteolytic enzymes, pepsin, Trypsin, Papain and rennet. Amongst this four enzymes used, papain gave highest proteolytic activity. Further, papain concentration and time for hydrolysis were optimized. Whey was hydrolysed with a range of papain concentration (50-90 mg/10 ml). Growth parameters of four lactic acid bacteria (L. helveticus MTCC 5463, S. thermophilus MTCC 5461, L. mesenteroides and L. lactis) were checked in hydrolysed whey. Mean viable counts were found to be highest in whey hydrolysed with 50mg/10ml concentration for 4 h. Keywords: Cheddar cheese whey, papain, lactic acid bacteria.