Clotting Activities of Partially Purified Extracts of Moringa oleifera L. on Dromedary Camel Milk

Abstract

Processing camel milk into shelf stable value added milk products is not yet well developed. Unlike the milk of cows and small ruminants, camel milk does not readily coagulate by rennet due to its inherent properties. Therfore, experiments were conducted to evaluate the clotting activities of partially purified Moringa oleifera extract on camel milk and to identify the optimum pH, temperature and concentration of the partially purified extract that would result in strong curd of camel milk. These included three temperature points (55, 60 and 65°C), three pH values(4.5, 5 and 5.5) and five levels of partially purified Moringa oleifera extracts obtained from seed and leaf samples (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40%). The results revealed that temperature, pH, and concentrations of partially purified seed and leaf extracts of Moringa oleifera had significant (p<0.05) effect on the clotting activities of camel milk. The highest camel milk clotting activity and curd firmness were observed at pH 5, temperature of 65°C and partially purified
extract concentration of 10% for both seeds and leaves, while the lowest values were recorded at pH 5.5, temperature of 55°C and a partially purified extract concentration of 40%, respectively. An increase in
camel milk clotting activity was observed with a decrease in milk pH from 5.5 to 4.5. Camel milk clotting activities increased with increasing temperature. However, it decreased with increase in partially purified
extract concentration for both seed and leaf extracts. Therefore, the capability of the partially purified extract of Moringa oleifera seeds to coagulate camel milk and to form firm curd combined with its high
ratio of milk clotting to proteolytic activity could make it a useful rennet substitute in the dairy industry.