Investigating the relationship between raw milk bacterial composition, as described by intergenic transcribed spacer-PCR fingerprinting, and pasture altitude.

Aims: To assess the bacterial biodiversity level in bovine raw milk used to produce Fontina, a Protected Designation of Origin cheese manufactured at high-altitude pastures and in valleys of Valle d'Aosta region (North-western Italian Alps) without any starters. To study the relation between microbial composition and pasture altitude, in order to distinguish high-altitude milk against valley and lowland milk.

Methods And Results: The microflora from milks sampled at different alpine pasture, valley and lowland farms were fingerprinted by PCR of the 16S-23S intergenic transcribed spacers (ITS-PCR).

Identification and quantification of alphaS1, alphaS2, beta, and kappa-caseins in water buffalo milk by reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

A method for the simultaneous quantitation of alpha(S1), alpha(S2), beta, and kappa-caseins in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) milk using reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography was developed. The molecular masses of the peaks separated by the described chromatographic protocol were determined by ESI-MS. alpha(S1)- and kappa-caseins were found to be heteromorphic in several individual milk samples.

Quantification of bovine casein fractions by direct chromatographic analysis of milk. Approaching the application to a real production context.

The ability to quantify the casein content by an exact and cost-effective approach represents an issue of crucial importance in the dairy industry as the natural variations in milk protein concentration can markedly affect the yield of the cheesemaking processes, thus causing a direct and significant economic impact on the producers. In this work, the separation and quantification of alpha(s1)-, alpha(s2)-, kappa- and beta-casein was carried out by direct RP-HPLC analysis of milk. The identification of each casein was established by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Genetic traceability of the geographical origin of typical Italian water buffalo Mozzarella cheese: a preliminary approach.

Aims: To distinguish Italian Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) water buffalo Mozzarella from different producers on a molecular basis in relation to the place of manufacturing within the production district, and to develop a tool for genetic traceability of typical dairy products.

Methods And Results: Microbial DNA was isolated from Mozzarella's governing liquid to amplify the whole microflora's ribosomal 16S-23S internal transcribed spacers (ITS)-PCR fingerprinting by means of an original primer pair. Phylogenetic distance analyses were performed on the obtained electrophoretic band patterns by maximum parsimony and neighbour-joining tree construction algorithms for discrete binary data, using a conventional bootstrap resampling test.

High-performance liquid chromatography of governing liquid to detect illegal bovine milk's addition in water buffalo Mozzarella: comparison with results from raw milk and cheese matrix.

A method to detect fraudulent addition of bovine milk in water buffalo Mozzarella cheese by gradient high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), relying on the measurement of quantity ratios within beta-lactoglobulin protein family, is described. Analyses were performed on raw milk, cheese matrix and cheese governing liquid using a C4 column and UV detection. This work demonstrated that bovine milk addition during cheesemaking can be detected in governing liquid of Mozzarella down to the EU law limit of 1% as well as in raw milk and cheese matrix.