This study was designed to investigate the effect of adding different levels of aqueous artichoke extract (AAE) to cheese retentate either as a rennet substitute or functional food on the properties of soft cheese during storage at 5 ± 1^o C / 4 weeks. AAE was added at ratios 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2 ml / 100 gm retentate which represents 0.0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % replacement of chymosin, respectively. Resultant cheeses were analyzed when fresh, 2 and 4 weeks for some chemical, microbiological, rheological and organoleptic properties of cheese during storage, and phenol content and coagulation time of retentate were also measured. No significant differences in the protein and fat contents of cheese samples were detected, but the total solids were slightly higher for control than other treatments. Both titratable acidity and water soluble nitrogen and syneresis of all samples were increased during storage period. Electrophoresis patterns illustrated that; artichoke aspartic proteinase exhibited a lower degree of protein degradation than the calf rennet. Cheese samples containing AAE had higher concentrations of total phenol and total carbohydrate content than the control. No coliform was detected in the cheeses and total viable counts of microorganisms  increased throughout storage periods. The average sensory property scores of all cheese samples were very close. All treatments had very good texture, over all acceptability, and as expected, storage time had a negative effect on total sensory scores and microbiological quality of the examined cheeses