Improving the Efficiency of the Traditional Method of Camel Chymosin Extraction Using Ultrasound and a Freeze-Drying Process

Many problems are associated with the traditional extracting methods of camel chymosin; they are costly, time-consuming, and have low concentrations of chymosin. This study aimed to increase the efficiency of the traditional methods of camel chymosin production. Two experiments were carried out; the first experiment was implemented using dried camel abomasum as a powder and strips (4-7mm), and exposed to ultrasound exposure time at (20, 40, and 80 min). The chymosin extracted using the dried powder with ultrasound exposure time at 80 min treatments caused a higher significant increase in milk clotting activity and lower proteolytic activity compared to the strips and control treatments. The second experiment was implemented using the freeze-dried process for both chymosin extracted from the strips and powder treatments, which was selected as a higher in total clotting activity and chymosin yield. Upon comparison to the traditional samples, the freeze-dried treatments caused a higher significant increase in specific milk-clotting time and MCA/PA ratio by approximately 4.2 fold and 24.0 fold, respectively. Moreover, the freeze-dried process caused a significant increase in chymosin yield, curd viscosity, firmness, and reduced the syneresis of milk curd. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the viscosimetric measurement can be used as a new indicator to predict the cutting time of camel milk curd. The use of ultrasound with the freeze-dried process can be recommended as an appropriate treatment for the extraction of camel chymosin.