Cheese Lab Conclusion

In this lab we asked what the optimal conditions and curdling agents for making cheese are. Out hypothesis was supported when we found that Chymosin in a hot, acidic, environment was the fastest. We tested Chymosin, Rennin, and buttermilk curdling agents in milk, as well as plain milk as a control, in basic, acidic, neutral, hot, cold, and warm environments separately. The buttermilk and plain milk did not curdle the milk at all. Neither Chymosin nor Rennin curdled the milk in cold or basic temperatures, but curdled it in all other conditions. With an acid, both curdled the milk in about 5 minutes, but when tested in a neutral environment, Rennin curdled the milk in 10 minutes and the Chymosin took 15 minutes. When tested warm environment, they both curdled in about 15 minutes. In the hot environment, it took 5 minutes for the Chymosin to curdle the milk and 10 minutes for the Rennin to curdle it. They both performed equally well in an acidic environment and a warm environment, but the Chymosin performed better in the hot environment, and the Rennin performed better in the neutral pH environment. Because hot, acidic, environments appear to be most favorable for curdling milk, the Chymosin performed better due to its faster time in the hot environment.

Although out hypothesis was supported, there may have been errors. We only checked for curdling every 5 minutes, so some curdling agents may have caused curdling earlier than others, but no one checked it then, leading to imprecise data. Another factor that may have caused error was having the different curdling agents being tested in the hot environment in one place. While checking for curdling, I accidentally checked a different curdling agent once, which led to confusion and basing the data off of a different independent variable. To fix theses errors, we could check the curdling agents more often, perhaps once every minute, and more label the samples with group names in addition to what factor they are testing.

This lab was done to demonstrate the effect of different pH and temperature on enzymes. From this lab I learned that some enzymes perform more effectively with different substrates in different conditions, which helps me understand what causes enzymes to denature and what causes them to work more efficiently. Based on my experience from this lab, I could more easily find optimal conditions for enzymes to speed up other reactions that may have a high activation energy or take a long time to perform naturally.

Curdling Agent	Chymosin	Rennin	Buttermilk	Milk (Control)
Acid	5	5
Base
pH Control	15	10
Cold
Hot	5	10
Temp Control	15	15