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Soils at different developmental stages were\ud sampled from eight sites on the slopes of Mt Etna, Sicily\ud (Italy) and characterized for total C, microbial biomass and\ud microbial respiration. The values of these parameters were\ud greatest for the most developed soils, but differences in\ud recent management and site characteristics limited analysis\ud of trends with soil development across the eight sites. The\ud decomposition kinetics of both intact leaf litter and the\ud water-insoluble fraction of leaf litter from three common\ud species on Etna [Etnean broom(Genista aetnensis), European\ud chestnut (Castanea sativa), and Corsican pine (Pinus nigra)]\ud were determined in four of the soils (the two with the\ud smallest and the two with the largest organic C contents) in a\ud laboratory experiment over 168 days to test two hypotheses.\ud First, that the readily mineralized fraction of added plant C is\ud greater when the plant material decomposes in welldeveloped\ud soils compared to less developed soils, and\ud second, that the microbial communities in less developed\ud soils are less efficient at mineralizing C from low quality\ud plant residues. The first hypothesis held for Genista and\ud Pinus litter, but not Castanea litter. The second hypothesis\ud was supported for the Castanea and Pinus litter, but not for\ud the Genista litter. Thus, the general applicability of the\ud hypotheses was dependent on the precise source and\ud characteristics of the litte

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The aim of this study was to produce a fresh ovine pressed cheese within Pecorino “Primosale” typology with the addition of citrus essential oils (EOs). For this purpose, ewe’s pasteurized milk was added with EOs from the peel of lemons, oranges and tangerines. Seven cheese productions were performed at the pilot plant scale level, including one control production (CP) without the addition of EOs and six experimental productions obtained by the addition of two EO concentrations (100 and 200 µL/L) to milk. The acidification process was obtained by means of the starter cultures Lactococcus lactis CAG4 and PON36. All cheeses showed levels of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) around 109 CFU/g, indicating that citrus EOs did not negatively influence the starter evolution. The addition of citrus EOs did not determine significant variations for dry matter, fat and protein percentages but increased the antioxidant capacity of all the experimental cheeses of about 50% in comparison to the control trial. The citrus EOs impacted cheese VOCs, especially for terpene class (limonene, β-pinene, myrcene, carene, linalool and α-terpineol). The sensory evaluation showed that cheeses enriched with 100 µL/L of citrus EOs were mostly appreciated by the panelists.

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