Quality of lipid fraction in Tuscan sheep cheese (Pecorino Toscano DOP)

Abstract

Bulk milk from dairy ewes of North Tuscany was sampled and analyzed for the fatty acids profile. Cheese was then made out of milk, pasteurized and fortified with Lactobacilli. The same analysis was performed on the lipid fraction of samples of the freshly made cheese and of samples of the same cheese, but ripened for different times: 30, 60, 90, 120 days of ageing. As a result, cheese making did not affect the acidic composition of the lipid fraction of the original milk and, furthermore, ageing up to 120 days had no important effect on the same composition. It is confirmed that Pecorino cheese is a sound, healthy, functional food.

Keywords

• Ewe milk, Ewe cheese, CLA.