The composition of the bacterial consortia of the smear Italian cheeses and their role on quality and safety is still poorly understood. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize ...the bacterial communities present on the surface of five traditional Italian cheeses, Casera Valtellina, Scimudin, Formaggio di Fossa, Gorgonzola and Taleggio. DGGE analysis performed using total DNA obtained from cheese surfaces enabled us to identify the dominant bacterial populations. Bands showing different intensity and identified as
Staphylococcus,
Micrococcus,
Psychrobacter,
Enterococcus and
Brevibacterium species were detected on the surface of cheeses. The cluster analysis showed that Gorgonzola, Taleggio and Formaggio di Fossa cheeses present high similarity in their surface bacterial composition while major differences in the DGGE profiles were observed in Scimudin and Casera. The molecular taxonomical identification among the Gram positive isolates, reveals the presence of the following bacterial genera:
Staphylococcus,
Micrococcus,
Macrococcus,
Enterococcus,
Lactobacillus,
Carnobacterium,
Leuconostoc,
Brevibacterium,
Corynebacterium,
Brochothrix,
Bacillus. The combination of culture dependent and independent techniques allowed us to obtain information about the bacterial species covering the surface of five different traditional Italian cheeses.
Non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) dominate cheese microbiota during ripening. They tolerate the hostile environment well and strongly influence the biochemistry of curd maturation, ...contributing to the development of the final characteristics of cheese. Several NSLAB are selected on the basis of their health benefits (enhancement of intestinal probiosis, production of bioactive peptides, generation of gamma-aminobutyric acid and inactivation of antigenotoxins) and are employed in cheese-making. This review describes the ecology of NSLAB, and focuses on their application as adjunct cultures, in order to drive the ripening process and promote health advantages. The scopes of future directions of research are summarised.
Cheesemaking in Greece has a centuries-old tradition and ancient Greeks considered the cheese as a divine invention and gift. Numerous traditional cheeses are made throughout Greece today and twenty ...of them were recognized as PDO. As a total, Greek traditional cheeses are grouped, according to their technology of manufacture, as: cheeses in brine, soft cheeses, semi-hard cheeses, hard cheeses and whey cheeses. Their predominant microflora throughout ripening is consisted of NSLAB that proliferate and contribute by their biochemical activities to cheese ripening and the development of flavor characteristics. Microorganisms indicative of their hygienic quality,
Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms, decline during ripening and are usually found at negligible levels in the mature products.
AIMS: Casizolu is a traditional Sardinian (Italy) pasta filata cheese made with cow raw milk belonging to Sardo‐Modicana and/or Bruno‐Sarda breeds added with natural whey starter. This work aims to ...describe the traditional technology of this product and to evaluate the microbial groups/species involved in the first month of ripening. METHODS AND RESULTS: Raw milk, curd after stretching and Casizolu cheese samples from two different farmsteads were subjected to enumeration of microbial groups, isolation and genotypic characterization of isolates and PCR temporal temperature gel electrophoresis (TTGE) analysis. The counts of lactobacilli and lactococci groups in raw milk were about 5–6 log UFC ml⁻¹ of milk. These counts tended to increase in curd and cheeses, reaching values higher than 8 log UFC g⁻¹ of cheese. Culture dependent and independent approaches employed in this work highlighted the fundamental role of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus paracasei in the manufacture and ripening of Casizolu cheese. Other species frequently isolated were Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus italicus while Enterococcus lactis, Streptococcus parauberis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus pentosus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactococcus raffinolactis were isolated occasionally. CONCLUSIONS: Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Strep. thermophilus and Lact. paracasei were the principal bacterial species involved in the Casizolu cheese manufacturing and ripening. For the first time, Ent. italicus and Ent. lactis were isolated in the pasta filata cheese. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study shows the first data on microbial groups and species involved in the manufacture of Casizolu cheese and highlights the role of Lact. paracasei and Enterococcus spp. from the earliest stages of ripening cheese; furthermore, provides evidence that raw milk cheese is a source of new strains and therefore a reservoir of microbial biodiversity.
The growing emphasis on dietary health has facilitated the development of plant‐based foods. Plant proteins have excellent functional attributes and health‐enhancing effects and are also ...environmentally conscientious and animal‐friendly protein sources on a global scale. The addition of plant proteins (including soy protein, pea protein, zein, nut protein, and gluten protein) to diverse cheese varieties and cheese analogs holds the promise of manufacturing symbiotic products that not only have reduced fat content but also exhibit improved protein diversity and overall quality. In this review, we summarized the utilization and importance of various plant proteins in the production of hybrid cheeses and cheese analogs. Meanwhile, classification and processing methods related to these cheese products were reviewed. Furthermore, the impact of different plant proteins on the microstructure, textural properties, physicochemical attributes, rheological behavior, functional aspects, microbiological aspects, and sensory characteristics of both hybrid cheeses and cheese analogs were discussed and compared. Our study explores the potential for the development of cheeses made from full/semi‐plant protein ingredients with greater sustainability and health benefits. Additionally, it further emphasizes the substantial chances for scholars and developers to investigate the optimal processing methods and applications of plant proteins in cheeses, thereby improving the market penetration of plant protein hybrid cheeses and cheese analogs.
Surface Microflora of Four Smear-Ripened Cheeses Mounier, Jérôme; Gelsomino, Roberto; Goerges, Stefanie ...
Applied and Environmental Microbiology,
11/2005, Volume:
71, Issue:
11
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The microbial composition of smear-ripened cheeses is not very clear. A total of 194 bacterial isolates and 187 yeast isolates from the surfaces of four Irish farmhouse smear-ripened cheeses were ...identified at the midpoint of ripening using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), repetitive sequence-based PCR, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing for identifying and typing the bacteria and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (mtDNA RFLP) analysis for identifying and typing the yeast. The yeast microflora was very uniform, and Debaryomyces hansenii was the dominant species in the four cheeses. Yarrowia lipolytica was also isolated in low numbers from one cheese. The bacteria were highly diverse, and 14 different species, Corynebacterium casei, Corynebacterium variabile, Arthrobacter arilaitensis, Arthrobacter sp., Microbacterium gubbeenense, Agrococcus sp. nov., Brevibacterium linens, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus equorum, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Micrococcus luteus, Halomonas venusta, Vibrio sp., and Bacillus sp., were identified on the four cheeses. Each cheese had a more or less unique microflora with four to nine species on its surface. However, two bacteria, C. casei and A. arilaitensis, were found on each cheese. Diversity at the strain level was also observed, based on the different PFGE patterns and mtDNA RFLP profiles of the dominant bacterial and yeast species. None of the ripening cultures deliberately inoculated onto the surface were reisolated from the cheeses. This study confirms the importance of the adventitious, resident microflora in the ripening of smear cheeses.
Aims: In this study, we compare seven different methods which have been designed or modified to extract total DNA from raw milk and raw milk cheese with a view to its subsequent use for the PCR of ...bacterial DNA. Materials and Results: Seven extraction methods were employed to extract total DNA from these foods, and their relative success with respect to the yield and purity of the DNA isolated, and its quality as a template for downstream PCR, was compared. Although all of the methods were successful with respect to the extraction of DNA naturally present in cheese, they varied in their relative ability to extract DNA from milk. However, when milk was spiked with a representative Gram‐positive (Listeria monocytogenes EGDe) or Gram‐negative (Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2) bacterium, it was established that all methods successfully extracted DNA which was suitable for subsequent detection by PCR. Conclusions: Of the seven approaches, the PowerFood™ Microbial DNA Isolation kit (MoBio Laboratories Inc.) was found to most consistently extract highly concentrated and pure DNA with a view to its subsequent use for PCR‐based amplification and also facilitated accurate detection by real‐time quantitative PCR. Significance and Impact of the Study: Accurately assessing the bacterial composition of milk and cheese is of great importance to the dairy industry. Increasingly, DNA‐based technologies are being employed to provide an accurate assessment of this microbiota. However, these approaches are dependent on our ability to extract DNA of sufficient yield and purity. This study compares a number of different options and highlights the relative success of these approaches. We also highlight the success of one method to extract DNA from different microbial populations as well as DNA which is suitable for real‐time PCR of microbes of interest, a challenge often encountered by the food industry.
We studied the diversity and dynamics of the microbiota of Calenzana, a Corsican raw milk cheese by microbial counting and culture-independent methods (TTGE and DGGE). Cheese from two farms, one ...producing goat cheese and the other one sheep cheese, was studied. The usual process for cheese making, without starter adjunct, was used. Lactococci and mesophilic lactobacilli were the dominant components of the flora during the early stages of the process. Microbial counting showed that the populations of salt-tolerant bacteria, yeasts and moulds were lower than in other artisanal Corsican cheeses. This difference was probably due to the surface microflora being removed during ripening. TTGE indicated that
Lactococcus lactis ssp.
lactis was the dominant subspecies throughout the process of Calenzana cheese making. DGGE showed the presence of numerous surface bacteria, (coryneforms) and various Gram-negative bacteria
. Relationships between physico-chemical characteristics of the cheese and microflora change were also established. For example, the high NaCl content may explain the decrease of the lactic acid bacterial population during ripening. This study shows the consequences of various technological parameters on the diversity and dynamics of dairy microbial community.
"Terroir", the taste of place, is being adapted by artisan cheesemakers in the United States to reveal the range of values— agrarian, environmental, social, and gastronomic— that they believe ...constitute their cheese and distinguish artisan from commodity production. Some see themselves as reverse engineering terroir cheeses to create place though environmental stewardship and rural economic revitalization. But a tension is produced: while warranting projects of reterritorialization through defetishized food production, terroir marketing may risk turning the concept of "terroir" into a commodity fetish. U.S. terroir talk reveals attempts to reconcile the economic and sociomoral values that producers invest in artisan cheese.
The aim of this study is to update the values concerning nutritional components for sheep and goat dairy products. The bibliography examines first the main biochemical constituents of sheep and goat ...milk products but also the more specific components with potential nutritional impact and lastly it gathers information on the relationship between cheese and milk compositions and the impact of technologies. Since the composition of French small ruminant cheeses is not well established, with composition tables being old and lacking information, recent studies have been conducted in France to investigate the nutritional characteristics of sheep and goat milks and cheeses on a large scale. Goat milk cheese sampling was representative of French production, taking into account the variability linked to geographic origin, dairy or on-farm transformation and type of cheeses. Fresh lactic cheeses made with raw (6 samples) or pasteurised (6) milk, ripened lactic cheeses made with raw (11) or pasteurised (6) milk, spreads (4), soft ripened cheeses (6 “Chèvre Boite or “Brique” type cheeses) and 4 bulk raw milks were sampled twice in a summer–autumn period. These 86 samples were analysed for their nutritional value. The impact of the technological process was assessed with, for example, its effect on mineral and vitamin B content. With respect to sheep, 5 representative samples of milk were collected, just before cheese making, in the 3 main French traditional areas of dairy sheep production. The sampling was carried out 4 times in the year. The objective was to explore the variability of the nutritional characteristics of the original milk. The cheeses made with these milks were analysed after ripening with a double objective: to specify their nutritional content and to assess the relationship between milk and cheese content. Some preliminary results are given concerning fatty acids.
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