rennin
1
9.3
A substance in baby mammals' stomachs that makes milk become solid to make cheese
- noun
- /ˈrɛnɪn/
- Specialized
:
renina
- The presence of rennin in a young mammal's stomach allows for the efficient digestion of milk.
Examples
-
The digestive enzyme rennin coagulated the liquid milk proteins into solids.
-
Rennin is crucial in cheese-making because it helps rennin to coagulate into curds.
-
In traditional cheese-making, rennin is used to cause the milk proteins to form a solid mass.
Synonyms
1
9.2
A substance that makes milk form curds to make cheese
is specifically an enzyme rather than a general stomach-derived substance
1
9.9
A substance in the stomachs of young mammals that makes milk turn into curds for making cheese
is the same enzyme but known by another scientific name
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word rennin comes from the older word rennet, the stomach liquid people long used to make cheese. Rennin is the enzyme in that liquid that makes milk 'curdle', so the name points straight to its job of turning milk into cheese.