Characterization of major and trace minerals, fatty acid composition, and cholesterol content of Protected Designation of Origin cheeses

Abstract

Cheese provides essential nutrients for human nutrition and health, such as minerals and fatty acids (FA). Its composition varies according to milk origin (e.g., species and breed), rearing conditions (e.g., feeding and management), and cheese-making technology (e.g., coagulation process, addition of salt, ripening period). In recent years, cheese production has increased worldwide. Italy is one of the main producers and exporters of cheese. This study aimed to describe mineral, FA, and cholesterol content of 133 samples from 18 commercial cheeses from 4 dairy species (buffalo, cow, goat, and sheep) and from 3 classes of moisture content (hard, <35% moisture; semi-hard, 35-45%; and soft, >45%). Mineral concentrations of cheese samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, and FA and cholesterol contents were determined by gas chromatography. Moisture and species had a significant effect on almost all traits: the highest levels of Na, Ca, and Fe were found in cheeses made from sheep milk; the greatest level of Cu was found in cow milk cheese, the lowest amount of K was found in buffalo milk cheese, and the lowest amount of Zn was found in goat cheeses. In all samples, Cr and Pb were not detected (below the level of detection). In general, total fat, protein, and minerals significantly increased when the moisture decreased. Buffalo and goat cheeses had the highest saturated FA content, and sheep cheeses showed the highest content of unsaturated and polyunsaturated FA, conjugated linoleic acid, and n-3 FA. Goat and sheep cheeses achieved higher proportions of minor FA than did cow and buffalo cheeses. Buffalo cheese exhibited the lowest cholesterol level. Our results confirm that cheese mineral content is mainly affected by the cheese-making process, whereas FA profile mainly reflects the FA composition of the source milk. This study allowed the characterization of mineral and FA composition and cholesterol content and revealed large variability among different commercial cheeses.

Short communication: Prediction of milk coagulation and acidity traits in Mediterranean buffalo milk using Fourier-transform mid-infrared spectroscopy

“…Moreover, buffalo milk is richer than bovine milk for almost all the major constituents (Zicarelli, 2004;Abd El-Salam and El-Shibiny, 2011). In Italy, as well as in other European countries, buffalo milk is almost completely used for manufacturing different types of cheese (Zicarelli, 2004;Manuelian et al, 2017), particularly Mozzarella, but also to a lesser extent various type of fresh and ripened cheeses (Tripaldi et al, 2013). Consequently, milk coagulation traits (McMahon and Brown, 1982), namely rennet coagulation time (RCT), curd firming time (k 20 ), curd firmness 30 min after rennet addition to milk (a 30 ), and acidity [pH and titratable acidity (TA)], are important factors informing milk processability for the cheesemaking process.…”

Technical note: Development and validation of a new method for the quantification of soluble and micellar calcium, magnesium, and potassium in milk

“…A schematic view of sample preparation is depicted in Figure 1. Calcium, Mg, and K concentrations in samples were determined after digestion using nitric acid in a microwave closed vessel (Ethos 1600 Milestone S.r.l., Sorisole, Italy) as reported in Visentin et al (2016) and Manuelian et al (2017). Briefly, ICP-OES Ciros Vision EOP (Spectro Analytical Instruments GmbH, Kleve, Germany) was used for determination of Ca at 317.933 nm, Mg at 285.213 nm, and K at 766.941 nm after proper dilution.…”

Novel applications of infrared technologies in dairy industry

“…Devices based on NIRS usually work in reflectance mode, like DS2500 (Foss Electric, Hillerød, Denmark), rather than in transmittance mode, like FoodScan (Foss Electric, Hillerød, Denmark). Regardless of that, the 2 modes are similar in terms of performance, as they showed similar accuracy of prediction of mineral content in soft cheeses [32].…”