Vivian Leida

10/30/17
1/2 Stem
Cheese Lab
Intro:
Cheese is a prime example of how Biotechnology has improved the industrial process.
To learn about the curdling agents and how they affect milk we did a three day lab
about cheese making. The first day we made cheese with four different curdling agents.
The second day we changed one variable of the lab and tested it again with just one
curdling agent. On the last day of the lab we tested water to see the different colors
water would show if it had different macromolecules in it.
Purpose:
Part 1: The purpose of the first part of this lab was to see how different agents react
to curdling milk to make cheese. We tested four different agents to see which one
worked best.
Part 2: The purpose of the second part of this lab ws to see what we could change in
the lab to curdle the milk faster. While testing this lab we chose the curdling agents th
we thought worked best along with the variable change.
Part 3: The purpose of the third part was to see the color difference between
something that had a certain macromolecule and something that didnt.
Hypothesis:
Part 1: If you use Chymosin (FPC) as your curdling agent, then it will curdle the
quickest way possible.
Part 2: If you place the milk and curdling agent in boiling water to curdle instead of
your armpit, then it will curdle quicker.
Part 3: If the cheese is tested for macromolecules then it will have lipids and proteins.
Procedure:
Part 1:
1. Lable 4 6ml tubes with curdling agents and group number.
2. Use a large pipette, transfer 3ml of milk into 6ml tubes
3. Use small pipette, transfer contents of tubes of fermentation produced chymosin,
natural bovine chymosin or buttermilk to labeled tube containing milk. For water,
fill the small transfer pipette to the bottom of the bulb and add to the labeled tube
containing the milk.
4. Cap tubes and invert 3 times then transfer in your armpit.
5. Set a timer and check every five minutes for curdles.
6. Record time (in minutes) when it begins to curdle.
7. If the milk has not curdled within thirty minutes then check every hour.
 8. In a data table, record time (in minutes) when it begins to curdle.
9. Upon return to lab, determine the amount of curdes by each process.
10. For each treatment, weigh papercone and weigh the curds separately, record
the weight
11. Transfer the entire contents of the tube into a labeled filtered paper cone over
suitable collection vessel. Once all liquid has drained through, dry the filter paper
with curds overnight.
12. Weigh the dry cone with the curds. Subtract the dry cone weight. Record the
weight in curds mg by multiplying the mass in grams by 1000.
13. Repeat with each treatment.
14. Create a data table that reports the rate of curds production (weight/time) by
each curdling agent.
15. Create a bar graph that shows the rate of curd production (weight/time) by each
curdling agent.
Part 2:
1. Lable 4 6ml tubes with curdling agents and group number.
2. Use a large pipette, transfer 3ml of milk into 6ml tubes
3. Use small pipette, transfer contents of tubes of fermentation produced chymosin,
natural bovine chymosin or buttermilk to labeled tube containing milk. For water,
fill the small transfer pipette to the bottom of the bulb and add to the labeled tube
containing the milk.
4. Cap tubes and invert 3 times then transfer into boiling water.
5. Set a timer and check every five minutes for curdles.
6. Record time (in minutes) when it begins to curdle.
7. If the milk has not curdled within thirty minutes then check every hour.
8. In a data table, record time (in minutes) when it begins to curdle.
9. Upon return to lab, determine the amount of curdes by each process.
10. For each treatment, weigh papercone and weigh the curds separately, record
the weight
11. Transfer the entire contents of the tube into a labeled filtered paper cone over
suitable collection vessel. Once all liquid has drained through, dry the filter paper
with curds overnight.
12. Weigh the dry cone with the curds. Subtract the dry cone weight. Record the
weight in curds mg by multiplying the mass in grams by 1000.
13. Repeat with each treatment.
14. Create a data table that reports the rate of curds production (weight/time) by
each curdling agent.
15. Create a bar graph that shows the rate of curd production (weight/time) by each
curdling agent.
 Part 3:
Data/Observations:
Part 1:
This data table shows the results of the curdling and amount of each cheese. The table
is the results of just my groups cheese.

Curdling Curdling Weight of Weight of Weight of Rate Comments

Agent time (mins) cone and cone (g) curds (g) mg/min
curds (g)

Chymosin 13 min 4.25g 1.15g 3.1g 240mg

(FPC)

Rennin <=1440 2.31g 1.13g 1.38g 0.097mg

(NCB)

Buttermilk <=1440 2.50g 1.14g 1.37g 0.00054mg

Water <=1440 3.51g 1.13g 2.39g 0.0016mg

This data table is a class average of the curdling and amount of cheese.

Weight of
Curdling Curdling Cone and Weight of Weight of Rate
Agent Time (min) Curds (g) Cone (g) Curds (g) (mg/min) Comments
Chymosin
(FPC) 5 2.55g 1.14g 0.33g 66
Rennin 0.000791666
(NCB) 1440 2.13g 1.14g 0.2g 66
0.152777777
Buttermilk 1440 1.63g 1.14g 0.22g 8
Water 2880 2.64g 1.14g 0.27g 0.09375

Observations:
FPC curdled quickly
Rennin forming small crystal like curdles
Cone weights varied
Armpits are not effective for curdling
No consistent temperature
Time inconsistent because of overnight curdling
 Part 2:

This Data table shows the results of the variable that we changed. We also chose the
fastest curdling agent to test it on.
Curdling Curdling time Weight of Weight of Weight of Rate mg/min
Agnet (min) cone and Cone (g) curds (g)
curds (g)

Chymosin 0.30 4.47g 1.13g 3.34g 700

(FPC)

Part 3:
This table shows the different Macromolecules and the colors to show if they have it in
them.
Macromolecule Indicator Used Positive Control Negative Control Comments

Glucose B-Solution Dark Orange Light Blue

Starch L-Iodine Black Light Brown

Protein B-Reagent Purple Blue Light Blue

Fat None Dark Pink Light Pink

Lipids None Translucent Non-translucent

Observations:

The glucose had the highest color change

Starch turned very quickly
Fat had the closest color change
Iodine stains the surfaces
Positive control colors are darker
Negative control colors are more translucent
These pictures show the difference between having a certain macromolecule and one
that doesnt.

~This picture shows a tube that is purple ~This picture shows a tube that is Light
blue and has protein vs a light blue tube pink and has no fat vs a dark pink tube
with no protein. with fat in it

~This picture shows a tube that is light ~This picture shows a tube that is Light
brown and has no starch vs a tube that is blue and has no glucose vs a tube that is
black and has starch in it. dark orange and has glucose.
Analysis:
Part 1:

This bar graph shows the curdling rate of

each agent. They had extremely varying

times so I had to put four breaks in it.

Through this experiment we found that

buttermilk is the least effective curdling

agent.

My hypothesis is proven through this data. If you use Chymosin (FPC) as your
curdling agent, then it will curdle the quickest way possible. MY hypothesis for this lab
was correct. The rate of curdling for the Chymosin is much higher than the other three
agents. During this lab we made a couple of errors. First, because we used a 2 ml
pipette to measure substances under 1 ml our measurements might not be exact. Next,
during the lab we spilled a drop of o of the tubes which could alter the results. Last, we
used tools that might have not been as sterile as they could have been which could alter
our results and curdling time. We could have improved by capping the tubes. We had
no caps for our tubes which caused some to spill. We also could have used a more
accurate pipette to measure the small amounts. This part of the lab lead to the second
part to find a way that we could curdle the milk the fastest.
 Part 2:

The first graph is the second part and the 2nd one is the data from part one. These two
graphs show the change that the way the milk was curdled. The first graph was boiling
water and the second was under the armpit.

This data proves my hypothesis for part 2. If you place the milk and curdling agent in
boiling water to curdle instead of your armpit, then it will curdle quicker. The data above
shows that boiling it improved it by around 460 mg a minute. This proved that my
hypothesis of boiling the water instead of curdling it under your armpit is a quicker
method of curdling milk. During this part of the lab we made an error. The error has to
do with the accuracy of the boiling water. Since it was on a hot plate, the temperature
can change very quickly while curdling. So, The curdling time could change depending
on where you boiled it. We could have improved by doing the new experiments on all
the agents. That way we could have more data to backup the hypothesis. We aso could
have capped the tubes before boiling them, to ensure they wouldnt spill. This lab did
not lead to anymore investigations. The third part of the lab was separate from this one.

Part 3:
The data above shows the differences between a substance having a certain
macromolecule and not having that macromolecule. Once we had seen the color
change we tested it on the cheese. My hypothesis was, If the cheese is tested for
macromolecules then it will have lipids and proteins. The cheese had both lipids and
proteins. After, we tested the cheese the colors were as shown in the data. Proving my
hypothesis that both lipids and proteins were found in the cheese. We could have
improved this lab by again being more exact with our measurements. This could have
altered the color. We could have improved this by using a more exact pipette. The
indicator could have easily been altered by a small amount off. This part of the lab did
not leave to any further investigations.

Conclusion:
Part 1:
During the first part of this lab I found out that Chymosin is the best cheese
curdling agent. To figure this out we first tested each of the four agents with milk and
curdled them under our armpits. Then we calculated and gave each agent a rate. Above
you can see all our data for part one and the Chymosin agent was much higher than the
rest of the agent as far as curdling time goes. It had approximately a rate of 240 mg a
minute. The three others were slower than one mg a minute. The evidence shows that
the number given is how many milligrams of cheese were produced every minute while
curdling. Since my hypothesis stated that if you use Chymosin (FPC) as your curdling
agent, then it will curdle the quickest way possible, my data backs up my hypothesis.
Part 2:
During the second part of this lab I found that changing the way the milk is
curdled speeds up the curdling time. To figure this out we picked one agent and did the
same procedure, but we curdled it in boiling water instead of an armpit. Then we
calculated the data and found the improvements on the curdling time. We found that the
new curdling time was 700 mg every minute. This is a huge improvement from the old
rate. This proves that changing the curdling method makes the milk curdle faster.
Part 3:
During the third part of this lab we found that the cheese contains lipids and
proteins. We tested this by seeing the color change when different cheeses have
different macromolecules. Then we tested it on the cheese to see which cheese had
which molecules. Our evidence proves that the cheese had both lipids and proteins. We
looked at our test colors and compared them to the colors on our cheese to prove the
hypothesis.