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Giagnoni L, Deb S, Tondello A, Zardinoni G, De Noni M, Franchin C, Vanzin A, Arrigoni G, Masi A, Stevanato P, Cecchinato A, Squartini A, Spanu C. The impact of milk storage temperatures on cheese quality and microbial communities at dairy processing plant scale. Food Res Int 2023; 172:113101. [PMID: 37689865 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Cheese production is an applied biotechnology whose proper outcome relies strictly on the complex interactive dynamics which unfold within defined microbial groups. These may start being active from the collection of milk and continue up to its final stages of maturation. One of the critical parameters playing a major role is the milk refrigeration temperature before pasteurization as it can affect the proportion of psychrotrophic taxa abundance in the total milk bacterial population. While a standard temperature of 4 °C is the common choice, due to its general growth control effect, it does have a potential drawback. This is due to the fact that some cold-tolerant genera present a proteolytic activity with uncompleted proliferation, which could negatively affect curd clotting and regular cheese maturation. Moreover, accidental thermal variations of milk before cheese-making, in a plus or minus direction, can occur both at farm collection sites and during transfer to dairy plant. This present research, directly commissioned by a major fresh cheese-producing company, includes an in-factory trial. In this trial, a gradient of temperatures from 4 °C to 13 °C, which were subsequently reversed, was purposely adopted to: (a) verify sensory alterations in the resulting product at different maturation stages, and, (b) analyze, in parallel, using DNA extraction and 16S-metabarcoding sequencing from the same samples, the presence, abundance and corresponding taxonomical identity of all the bacteria featured in communities found in milk and cheese samples. Overall, 1,714 different variants were detected and sorted into 394 identified taxa. Significant bacterial community shifts in cheese were observed in response to milk refrigeration temperature and subsequently associated with samples having altered scores in sensory panel tests. In particular, proteolytic psychrotrophes were outcompeted by Enterobacteriales and by other taxa at the peak temperature of 13 °C, but aggressively increased in the descent phases, upon the cooling down of milk to values of 7 °C. Relevant clues have been collected for better anticipation of thermal abuse effects or parameter variations allowing for improved handling of technical processing conditions by the cheese manufacturing industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Giagnoni
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna, 2, 07100 Sassari (SS), Italy; Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy.
| | - Saptarathi Deb
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Alessandra Tondello
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Giulia Zardinoni
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Michele De Noni
- Latteria Montello S.p.A. Via Fante d'Italia 26, 31040 Giavera del Montello (TV), Italy
| | - Cinzia Franchin
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Alice Vanzin
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Giorgio Arrigoni
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 587b, 35131 Padova (PD), Italy
| | - Antonio Masi
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Piergiorgio Stevanato
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Alessio Cecchinato
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Andrea Squartini
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, DAFNAE, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, (PD), Italy
| | - Carlo Spanu
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna, 2, 07100 Sassari (SS), Italy
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