• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.132-143
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• 2023

Objective: The aim was to study the influence of cooling milk at 9℃ at the farm versus keeping it at 20℃ on Parmigiano Reggiano cheese lipolysis. Methods: A total of six cheesemaking trials (3 in winter and 3 in summer) were performed. In each trial, milk was divided continuously into two identical aliquots, one of which was kept at 9℃ (MC9) and the other at 20℃ (MC20). For each trial and milk temperature, vat milk (V-milk) and the resulting 21 month ripened cheese were analysed. Results: Fat and dry matter and fat/casein ratio were lower in MC9 V-milk (p≤0.05) than in MC20. Total bacteria, mesophilic lactic acid and psychrotrophic and lipolytic bacteria showed significant differences (p≤0.05) between the two V-milks. Regarding cheese, fat content resulted lower and crude protein higher (p≤0.05) both in outer (OZ) and in inner zone (IZ) of the MC9 cheese wheels. Concerning total fatty acids, the MC9 OZ had a lower concentration of butyric, capric (p≤0.05) and medium chain fatty acids (p≤0.05), while the MC9 IZ had lower content of butyric (p≤0.05), caproic (p≤0.01) and short chain fatty acids (p≤0.05). The levels of short chain and medium chain free fatty acids (p≤0.05) were lower and that of long chain fatty acids (p≤0.05) was higher in MC9 OZ cheese. The principal component analysis of total and free fatty acids resulted in a clear separation among samples by seasons, whereas slight differences were observed between the two different milk temperatures. Conclusion: Storing milk at 9℃ at the herd affects the chemical composition of Parmigiano Reggiano, with repercussion on lipolysis. However, the changes are not very relevant, and since the cheese can present a high variability among the different cheese factories, such changes should be considered within the "normal variations" of Parmigiano Reggiano chemical characteristics.