Evaluation of rheological properties of plant extracts from Mediterranean flora in goat milk

The pastoral area of internal Cilento (Campania, Southern Italy) claims many valuable cheeses and according to the oral tradition, when animal rennet was not available for goat cheeses, some wild plants were used for their curdling properties. The cheese market is in continuous evolution, looking for new cheeses but also linked to the territory and tradition. On the bases of an ethnobotanical investigation, the coagulating properties of water extracts of the wild species Teucrium chamaedrys L., Galium aparine L., Galium verum L., Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn., Chelidonium majus L., and Urtica dioica L. were evaluated on goat milk by rheological test with a Formagraph instrument at two doses (60 μl vs. 50 μl per 10 mL goat milk) at 36 °C, and at lab-scale by micro cheesemaking test at 0.5 mL/100 mL goat milk. For all plant extracts, the best Milk Rheological Properties were found at the lowest dose of extract. In the lab-scale test, all plant extracts except C. majus showed interesting clotting behaviour. The results confirmed the pastoral tradition and opened to new perspectives to produce goat cheeses with no-animal rennet using these wild species, linked to the heritage of the geographical area. Further studies will be carried out on the chemical composition, besides the antioxidant capacity and polyphenol content, to attempt explaining the MRPs.