Evaluating the Authenticity of the Raw-Milk Cheese Fontina (PDO) with Respect to Similar Cheeses

Abstract

The implementation of quality assurance schemes for the assessment of PDO food authenticity is an issue involving manufacturers, traders, retailers and consumers. In this respect, reliable analytical methods are needed to integrate paper-trailing information. The feasibility of distinguishing the Italian Fontina PDO cheese from the generic Fontal cheese was preliminarily evaluated on a set of commercial samples by measuring selected parameters (pH, alkaline phosphatase activity, content of copper, volatiles, extent of proteolysis) related to the different manufacturing processes. The relative profile of free amino acids proved to be a promising tool. A new set of 41 samples of Fontina PDO cheese was collected at representative dairies within the recognized production area and analyzed for free amino acids. A chemometric model of Fontina PDO cheese was built based on the mean content and standard deviation of 15 free amino acids. On this basis, all of the PDO samples were correctly identified, whereas all of the Fontal cheeses were recognized as different cheeses.

Evaluation of traditional semi‐hard Brazilian cheeses using chemometric tools to identify possible denomination fraud

“…Therefore, reliable analytical methods are needed to integrate information. The feasibility of distinguishing a cheese type from the generic cheese must be preliminarily evaluated on a set of commercial samples by measuring selected parameters physical chemicals related to the different manufacturing processes (Pellegrino et al 2021).…”

Authenticity assessment of dairy products by capillary electrophoresis

“…The use of CE for the study of milk proteins was developed from some pioneering works in the early 90s [63,64] and currently many laboratories use CE for dairy research [65,66]. As regards the general topic of CE in food analysis, the review papers published biennially by the electrophoresis journal are very useful [67][68][69][70][71][72][73].…”