Nutritional composition of four commercial cheeses made with buffalo milk

This paper compares the nutritional and nutraceutical characteristics of four commercial cheeses made from the same buffalo milk using different production processes. Four subsequent cheese-making were made over a period of one month by a cheese company in Italy. For each cheese-making from the same bulk buffalo milk four different cheeses were made: Mozzarella, Caciotta, Capriccio, and Blu del Granduca. All the samples were analyzed in terms of the chemical composition and fatty acid profile. The manufacturing process affected the nutritional and health characteristics of the cheeses. The cheese-making process led to a lower retention of calcium in the mozzarella, and a higher nitrogen content on dry matter. In addition, the cheese-making process and the ripening influenced the fatty acid profiles, and modified various atherogenic (C12:0 and C14:0), and beneficial FAs (C18:3n3, cis-9,trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid, C20:5 and C20:6). Despite the higher fat on a wet basis, the ripened cheeses and especially the Blu cheese, showed a healthier fatty acid profile than the mozzarella

Fatty acid and microbiological profile of the meat (longissimus dorsi muscle) of wild boar (Sus scropha scropha) hunted in Tuscany

The aim of this work is to study the influence of gender, age and hunting period on the fatty acid composition of the longissimus dorsi muscle excised from 42 wild boars hunted on a farm located in Tuscany. A sub-sample of 22 muscles was used for the study of the microbiological profile of wild boar meat. The results show that gender had an effect only on C16:1 n7, which was higher in females (p ≤ .05). Slaughtering age influenced more parameters, thus resulting in a higher content of C6:0, C18:2, C20:1 and n6/n3 ratio in meat from adults (p ≤ .05) and in a higher percentage of C16:0 (p ≤ .05) in meat from young animals. The hunting month greatly influenced the meat quality because, in addition to the single fatty acids, it significantly modified the MUFA, PUFA, PUFA/SFA and n6/n3 ratio, underlining the great difference between meat of wild boar shot in October – November vs December – January. Ether extract was higher in sub-adults than in young animals (p ≤ .01) but was not influenced by gender and hunting month. Regarding the microbiological analyses, Salmonella spp. was only detected in one sample, while Yersinia enterocolitica was not detected at all. Data on the presence of pathogenic bacteria confirmed health risk for the consumer comparable to that associated with meat obtained from farm animals, while data on microbial loads (total aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic counts, Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli) did not highlight any specific criticality

Preliminary investigation of reuse of ricotta-cheese whey (scotta) as substrate for the growth of Rhodotorula glutinis intended for the production of carotenoids

The ricotta-cheese whey, also called scotta, is the main by-product of ricotta-cheese manufacture process. This by-product is rich in nutrients that could make it a good substrate in biotechnological processes for the production of commercial high-value compounds. Nowadays, the demand for natural pigments and health-promoting food ingredients has increased. Carotenoids present a high commercial value as it are widely used in food, feed, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. A wide range of microorganisms and Rhodotorula genera yeast are able to produce carotenoids. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential re -use of ricotta cheese whey (scotta) as substrate for the growth of Rhodotorula glutinis intended for the production of carotenoids. Under the cultivation conditions used, R. glutinis strain showed similar ability to grow and to produce carotenoids when cultivated in scotta compared to a semi-synthetic substrate. Under the cultivation conditions used, R. glutinis strain showed similar ability to grow and to produce carotenoids when cultivated in scotta compared to the semi-synthetic substrate. Thus, the results showed that scotta has potential to be used in a biotechnological process to obtain a high-value molecule. Further investigations are needed to test if changes in the cultivation parameters and the hydrolysis of lactose could improve the growth and the amount of cellular β-carotene