Editing Rennet (section)

=== Vegetable ===

Many plants have coagulating properties.  [[Homer]] suggests in the ''[[Iliad]]'' that the Greeks used an extract of [[ficus|fig]] juice to coagulate milk.<ref>{{cite book
 | author1 = P. F. Fox | author2 = Paul McSweeney | author3 = Timothy M. Cogan | author4 = Timothy P. Guinee
 | year = 2004
 | title = Cheese: Major cheese groups
 | pages = 2
 | publisher = Academic Press
 | isbn = 978-0-12-263652-3
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vz-2Y7npqj0C&q=fig&pg=PA2
 | access-date = 2009-05-06
 }}</ref> Other examples include several species of [[Galium]], [[Caper|dried caper leaves]],<ref>Mike, Tad, "Capers: The Flower Inside", Epikouria Magazine, Fall/Winter 2006</ref> [[Urtica|nettles]], [[thistle]]s, [[Malva|mallow]], ''[[Withania coagulans]]'' (also known as Paneer Booti, Ashwagandh and the Indian Cheesemaker), and [[Glechoma hederacea|ground ivy]].  Some traditional cheese production in the [[Mediterranean]] uses enzymes from thistle or ''[[Cynara]]'' (artichokes and cardoons). Phytic acid, derived from unfermented [[soy]]beans, or fermentation-produced chymosin (FPC) may also be used.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[Vegetable]] rennet might be used in the production of [[Kosher foods|kosher]] and [[halal]] cheeses, but nearly all kosher cheeses are produced with either microbial rennet or FPC.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} <!-- Worldwide, there is no industrial production for vegetable rennet. -->  Commercial so-called vegetable rennets usually contain an extract from the [[Mold (fungus)|mold]] ''[[Rhizomucor miehei]]'' described below.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}