Abstract:The experiment was conducted to study the effects of rennet addition, fermentation endpoint pH, curd temperature and hot blanching temperature on Yunnan Bos bubalus milk mozzarella cheese, the sensory score and stretchability of the cheese were used as the evaluation indexes, and to determine the optimal process of the cheese by combining with the response surface methodology, and to further evaluate the nutrient composition and functional properties of the resultant mozzarella cheese. The results showed that the optimal process for Yunnan Bos bubalus milk mozzarella cheese was 0.5 mg/mL rennet addition, fermentation endpoint pH value is 5.7, 45 ℃ curdling temperature and 80 ℃ stretching temperature. The sensory score was 90.18 and stretchability was 64.83 cm of mozzarella cheese made from Bos bubalus milk based on the optimal process was close to the predicted values and significantly higher (P<0.05) than the sensory score (64.52) and stretchability (27.33 cm) of cheese made from black and white flower cow milk. The protein (24.12 g/100g), moisture (52.59 g/100g) and fat (20.98 g/100g) contents, yield (11.28%), meltability (33.07 mm), and fat precipitation (17.00 mm) of Bos bubalus milk cheeses were significantly higher than that of black and white calf milk cheeses (P<0.05). The research results indicate that Bos bubalus milk is more suitable for mozzarella cheese making than normal black and white flower cow milk. The resulting cheese has good organoleptic, nutritional and functional characteristics. Therefore, Bos bubalus milk mozzarella cheese can effectively meet consumers' demand for healthy and delicious dairy products, and also provide new ideas for the commercial application of Bos bubalus milk.