J. Dairy Sci. 106:6646–6654 https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22730 © 2023, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Comparison of chemical composition of organic and conventional Italian cheeses from parallel production C. L. Manuelian,1,2* M. Pozza,1 M. Franzoi,1 F. Righi,3 U. Schmutz,4 and M. De Marchi1 1 Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy 2 Group of Ruminant Research (G2R), Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain 3 Department of Veterinary Science, University of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy 4 Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, Ryton Gardens, Ryton-on-Dunsmore CV8 3LG, United Kingdom ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Although there are several studies comparing organic Cheese production from whole cow milk has been and conventional milk characteristics, very few focused steadily increasing in the last 5 yr in the European on dairy processed products such as cheese. Thus, this Union (EU) up to 7.8% (FAOSTAT, 2022). Italy is study aimed for a detailed controlled examination of one of the Top-3 cheese producing countries in the EU, gross composition, minerals, and the fatty acid profile of with a 14.6% share, after France and Germany (FAO- organic (ORG) and conventional (CON) Italian cheeses STAT, 2022). Asiago Protected Designation of Origin from parallel production. Four Italian cheese types were (PDO) fresco (>20 d of ripening) or stagionato (>90 d analyzed: Latteria (ORG, n = 9; CON, n = 10); Asiago of ripening) is produced from cow milk in Northeastern Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) fresco (ORG, Italy, being the fourth most produced cheese type in n = 9; CON, n = 9); Caciotta (ORG, n = 8; CON, n that country (CLAL, 2022). Mozzarella Traditional = 8); and Mozzarella Traditional Specialty Guaranteed Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) is a soft cheese from cow (TSG; ORG, n = 14; CON, n = 14). Cheese samples were milk. Caciotta is an aged or semi-aged soft cheese in a collected from September 2020 to August 2021. Gross cylinder shape from cow’s, sheep’s, goat’s, and buffalo’s composition, minerals, and fatty acids were determined milk or a mix of these milks. Latteria is a general term using infrared spectroscopy. Within each cheese type, to describe a semi-hard cheese from cow milk made in paired ORG and CON samples were compared using the Veneto region in Northern Italy. In contrast, all a nonparametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Latteria organic (ORG) retails sales in the EU continued its showed lower PUFA, n-3, and n-6 content, and greater growth in 2020, where Italy is among the Top-3 coun- Fe, K, C10:0, C12:0, and C16:0 content in ORG than in tries after Germany and France with 3,872 million €, CON. Asiago PDO fresco showed lower protein and Zn and is the country with the largest number of ORG content and greater salt, ash, and Na content in ORG producers (>70,000) and ORG processors (>22,000) than in CON. Caciotta showed lower ash, n-3, and n-6 considering all goods (Willer et al., 2022). These data content and greater K, C4:0, C8:0, C10:0, C14:0, and support the relevance of Italy as a cheese producer as C16:0 content in ORG than in CON. Mozzarella TSG well as an ORG producer in the EU considering all showed lower fat and, therefore, fatty acid content, goods. The difference between ORG and conventional and greater moisture, ash, and Mg content in ORG (CON) cheese making procedure is only related to the than in CON. In conclusion, few significant differences different type of milk at beginning of cheese making. in chemical composition were observed between ORG The cheese making conditions (e.g., temperature, time, and CON cheeses, regardless of the type considered. operation), the type of rennet, and bacteria are the Moreover, Asiago PDO fresco showed fewer significant same between ORG and CON cheeses. Thus, ORG differences between ORG and CON compared with cheese should be made from ORG milk and manufac- Latteria, Caciotta, and Mozzarella TSG. tured avoiding cross-contamination with CON cheese Key words: low-input system, product quality, PDO (i.e., produce first on the morning after the machinery food, quality control was clean the day before). The ORG milk comes from ORG farms which mainly differ from CON ones on feed (ORG feed), stocking density, and veterinary treat- Received September 2, 2022. Accepted April 4, 2023. ments while all other inputs and management remain *Corresponding author: carmen.manuelian@​uab​.cat unchanged. 6646 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6647 Research found that people with university education called parallel production ORG and CON processing on and greater concern about environmental sustainability the same factory line, the ORG cheese was always made are the consumer group with the highest willingness first after cleaning the line the day before. Cheeses were to pay more for ORG than CON food (Gracia and sampled almost monthly across 1 yr (September 2020 de-Magistris, 2016). For ORG cheese it was found a to August 2021). Cheese types included in the present greater expected liking score that CON cheese, prob- study were as follows: Latteria (ORG, n = 9; CON, n ably due to a satisfactory consumer trust in ORG leg- = 10); Asiago PDO fresco (ORG, n = 9; CON, n = 9); islation (Napolitano et al., 2010). Consumers perceive Caciotta (ORG, n = 8; CON, n = 8); and Mozzarella ORG being better (i.e., healthier and better quality) TSG (ORG, n = 14; CON, n = 14). than CON products (Rodríguez-Bermúdez et al., 2020), Based on the moisture content of the samples, but there is a lack of studies on the intrinsic quality cheeses were classified as soft (>45% water), semi-hard traits of cheese comparing both production systems. (35–45% water), and hard (<35% water; CLAL, 2018). Studies are usually conducted in fluid milk rather Therefore, samples from Latteria and Asiago PDO than in processed dairy products (Średnicka-Tober et fresco included hard (n = 16 and n = 3, respectively) al., 2016). The very few studies on ORG cheese used and semi-hard cheeses (n = 3 and n = 15, respectively), samples from different dairy producers for the CON and Caciotta included hard (n = 1), semi-hard (n = cheese (da Silva Cândido et al., 2020; da Silva Abreu 14), and soft (n = 1) cheeses. Mozzarella TSG samples et al., 2021) or focus only on ORG cheese (Popovic- were all classified as soft cheese. All cheese types were Vranjes et al., 2016; Łepecka et al., 2022). In particular, manufactured with whole pasteurized cow milk, salt, da Silva Cândido et al. (2020) and da Silva Abreu et and rennet. The ripening time indicated by the manu- al. (2021) focused on the isolation of Staphylococcuss facturer for Asiago PDO fresco was 20 d, for Caciotta sp. and the bacterial diversity from ORG and CON between 14 d and 3 mo, and for Latteria between 10 fresh minas cheese, respectivily, and did not evaluate and 60 d. Mozzarella TSG does not undergo a ripening cheese chemical composition. Those authors concluded process. that the microbiological differences observed cannot be Samples arrived refrigerated (4°C) at the labora- attributed to the production system itself –i.e., being tory of the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural ORG or CON– because the cheesemaking process was resources, Animals, and Environment of the University different (da Silva Cândido et al., 2020; da Silva Abreu of Padova (Legnaro, Italy) and 1.5 cm of the rind were et al., 2021). To the best of our knowledge, there are removed in Latteria, Asiago PDO fresco, and Caciotta not further studies comparing ORG and CON cheese. samples. Each cheese sample was homogenized with a Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate compo- knife mill Retsch Grindomix GM200 (Retsch GmbH sitional (gross composition, and mineral and fatty acid and Co, Haan, Germany) and the ground cheese was content) differences between ORG and CON Italian kept in a sealed plastic bag at 4°C and analyzed within cow cheeses Latteria, Asiago PDO fresco, Caciotta, and 2 h to avoid variations in cheese composition depending Mozzarella TSG from parallel production. Variation do on moisture loss. to different processing and milk sourcing regions were removed by our research design using the same process- Chemical Analyses ing plant, cheese types, and milk source in the region, however differently produced on ORG or CON farms. Samples were analyzed using a near-infrared spec- trophotometer in transmittance mode FoodScan Dairy MATERIALS AND METHODS Analyzer (Foss Electric A/S) which worked at room temperature (20°C). A 50-g ground sample of each cheese Sample Collection was placed in the cup glass of FoodScan (diameter 140 mm, depth 20 mm) assuring that the sample covered all Because no human or animal subjects were used, this the bottom surface of the plate without leaving empty analysis did not require approval by an Institutional spots, and was scanned from 850 to 1,050 nm every 2 Animal Care and Use Committee or Institutional Re- nm. Each spectrum was the average of 16 subspectra view Board. collected during the automatic rotation of the cup and Respecting the mandatory rules reported by organic recorded as log(1/transmittance) using ISIscan Nova standards (e.g., separation of milk, traceability of batch and Mosaic software (Foss Electric A/S). and wheels), samples (100 g) of ORG and CON cheese Cheese moisture, fat, protein, salt, and ash percent- of each type paired by factory, production day, batch, ages as sampled were determined using FoodScan Dairy cheesemaking process, and ripening time were collected. Analyzer (Foss Electric A/S) through commercial FOSS Because of ORG cheese processing regulation for what is Artificial Neural Networks Dairy Calibration. More- Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 106 No. 10, 2023 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6648 over, prediction models for minerals (Na, Ca, P, K, S, (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Results are reported Mg, Zn, and Fe; mg/kg), individual fatty acids (C4:0, as median and 95% confidence interval of the estimate C6:0, C8:0, C10:0, C12:0, C14:0, C15:0, C16:0, C18:0; (95% CI). Significance was established at P < 0.05 g/100 of cheese), and groups of fatty acids (SFA, UFA, unless otherwise stated. MUFA, PUFA, n-3, and n-6; g/100 of cheese) were ap- plied. Briefly, those prediction models were developed RESULTS by Franzoi et al. (2021) using partial least squares re- gression analysis on 158 cheese samples of mozzarella, Gross Composition burrata, caciotta, mozzarella for pizza, milk ricotta, whey ricotta, and scamorza cheese. The reference analy- Latteria gross composition of 5 traits (moisture, pro- sis for minerals was obtained using inductively coupled tein, fat, ash, and salt content in percentage as sampled) plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) Ar- was similar between ORG and CON cheese. However, cos EOP (SPECTRO Analytical Instruments GmbH) Latteria tended to a lower ash content and a greater after mineralization of the sample according to AOAC protein content in ORG than CON (P < 0.10; Table method #2015.06 (Pacquette and Thompson, 2018). 1). Asiago PDO fresco showed lower protein content, For the reference analysis for fatty acid profile, total and greater salt and ashes content in ORG than CON lipids were extracted by an accelerated solvent extrac- cheese (P < 0.05; Table 1). Caciotta presented greater tion method using a Dionex ASE 350 system (Thermo protein and lower ashes content in ORG than CON Scientific) with petroleum ether as solvent. Fatty acid cheese (P < 0.05; Table 1). However, Caciotta tended methyl esters of total lipids were prepared with an to a lower moisture content in ORG than CON (P < internal method adapted from Christie (1993). More 0.10; Table 1). Mozzarella TSG had lower fat content, details about the reference analysis can be retrieved and greater moisture and ash content in ORG than from De Marchi et al. (2021). The prediction models CON cheese (P < 0.05; Table 1). were validated through leave-one-out cross-validation. Coefficients of determination (and standard error be- Mineral Profile tween brackets) in cross-validation for minerals were as follows: Na, 0.93 (725.91 mg/kg); Ca, 0.91 (692.31 mg/ Among all the mineral evaluated, few differences were kg); P, 0.92 (492.70 mg/kg); K, 0.85 (183.95 mg/kg); S, observed (Table 2). Latteria had (P < 0.05) greater K 0.85 (136.16 mg/kg); Mg, 0.92 (34.27 mg/kg); Zn, 0.92 and Fe, and tended (P < 0.10) to lower Mg content in (2.50 mg/kg); and, Fe, 0.39 (0.44 mg/kg). Coefficients ORG than CON cheese (Table 2). Asiago PDO fresco of determination (and standard error between brackets) showed greater Na and lower Zn content in ORG than in cross-validation for individual fatty acids and groups CON (P < 0.05). Caciotta presented greater K content of fatty acids were as follows: C4:0, 0.81 (0.07 g/100 in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.05), and tended to of cheese); C6:0, 0.84 (0.05 g/100 of cheese); C8:0, lower Na and greater S content in ORG than CON 0.76 (0.04 g/100 of cheese); C10:0, 0.76 (0.10 g/100 cheese (P < 0.10). Mozzarella TSG revealed greater of cheese); C12:0, 0.77 (0.12 g/100 of cheese); C14:0, Mg content in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.05), and 0.71 (0.47 g/100 of cheese); C15:0, 0.77 (0.03 g/100 of tended to greater Ca and lower K content in ORG than cheese); C16:0, 0.85 (0.75 g/100 of cheese); C18:0, 0.40 CON cheese (P < 0.10). (0.80 g/100 of cheese); SFA, 0.89 (1.48 g/100 of cheese); UFA, 0.81 (1.11 g/100 of cheese); MUFA, 0.80 (1.01 Fatty Acid Profile g/100 of cheese); PUFA, 0.76 (0.20 g/100 of cheese); n-3, 0.63 (0.05 g/100 of cheese); and, n-6, 0.52 (0.20 The fatty acid profile of ORG and CON cheeses is g/100 of cheese). reported in Table 3 and Table 4 for individual and fatty acid groups, respectively. Latteria had lower PUFA, Statistical Analysis n-3, and n-6 and greater C10:0, C12:0, and C16:0 content in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.05). Also, Compositional data for all cheese varieties were not Latteria tended to a lower UFA and a greater C14:0 normally distributed (Shapiro-Wilk test) and it was not content in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.10). Asiago possible to normalize the data using Box-Cox trans- PDO fresco tended to a lower UFA content in ORG formations (Box-Cox and Cox, 1964; Osborne, 2010). than CON cheese (P < 0.10). Caciotta presented lower Therefore, differences in composition between ORG n-3 and n-6, and greater C4:0, C8:0, C10:0, C14:0, and and CON within each cheese type were tested pairwise C16:0 content in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.05). using the nonparametric Wilcoxon Singed-Rank test Also, Caciotta tended to a lower PUFA and a greater through the UNIVARIATE procedure of SAS ver. 9.4. C12:0 content in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.10). Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 106 No. 10, 2023 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6649 Table 1. Gross composition (% as sampled) of organic and conventional cheeses Organic cheese Conventional cheese Trait1 Median 95% CI2 Median 95% CI2 P-value Latteria n=9 n = 10 Moisture 30.91 29.59–34.29 31.65 29.54–37.01 0.820 Fat 38.38 37.09–39.91 38.20 35.38–40.11 1.000 Protein 26.35 24.02–26.93 25.09 23.76–26.27 0.074 Salt 3.23 2.95–3.64 3.14 2.85–3.99 0.910 Ash 4.82 4.56–5.46 5.58 5.06–6.22 0.074 Asiago PDO fresco n=9 n=9 Moisture 38.37 36.92–40.47 36.99 35.82–39.69 0.203 Fat 34.74 33.12–35.73 35.69 33.82–36.18 0.129 Protein 22.72 21.19–23.09 23.54 22.89–24.09 0.008* Salt 2.55 2.17–3.18 2.29 1.90–2.54 0.020* Ash 4.82 4.57–5.28 4.56 4.17–4.81 0.027* Caciotta n=8 n=8 Moisture 39.80 38.52–45.47 42.72 40.18–44.76 0.055 Fat 34.37 31.54–37.42 32.42 31.29–34.48 0.148 Protein 23.23 21.92–25.52 21.89 21.16–22.68 0.039* Salt 2.12 1.94–2.35 2.23 2.07–2.40 0.195 Ash 3.92 3.83–4.95 4.45 4.02–5.09 0.039* Mozzarella TSG n = 14 n = 14 Moisture 61.96 59.74–64.05 61.02 59.44–61.92 0.005* Fat 18.86 17.54–20.85 20.90 20.56–23.25 <0.001* Protein 15.91 14.74–16.61 15.56 15.43–15.60 0.502 Salt 1.01 0.93–1.19 1.05 1.01–1.23 0.104 Ash 2.27 2.16–2.49 2.06 1.83–2.18 0.002* 1 PDO = Protected Designation of Origin; TSG = Traditional Specialty Guaranteed. 2 95% CI = 95% confidence interval of the estimate. *Significant difference (P < 0.05) between gross composition of organic and conventional cheese. Mozzarella TSG revealed lower SFA, UFA, MUFA, and same factory through a complete year. Therefore, in all identified individual fatty acids in ORG than CON our study results in the end product mirror milk origin cheese (P < 0.05). However, those results in Mozzarella (animals’ management practices, breed, and so on) and TSG should be interpreted, considering that fat content not the cheesemaking process and ripening time. We was lower in ORG than CON cheese (P < 0.05). are not aware of previous studies comparing ORG and CON cheese composition, thus results will be discussed DISCUSSION in relation to milk differences between both systems. Before discussing the results of ORG versus CON Milk composition is often affected by factors over cheese, we would point-out that values of gross composi- which the cheesemaker has no control at all. Such are tion, minerals, and fatty acids for both ORG and CON animal feeding, breed, and season (Law and Tamime, cheese (Tables 1 to 4) were in line with those reported 2011). Moreover, due to the requirements established by Manuelian et al. (2017). Those authors characterized by the ORG regulation (EU, 2018), ORG farms usually the mineral profile through ICP-OES after mineraliza- have different management and feeding practices than tion with nitric acid, and the fatty acid profile using CON farms. To standardize the cheese manufacture GC of 18 varieties of commercial cheeses including soft, and ripening process, the cheesemaker standardizes semi-hard, and hard products. The comparable results milk composition by adding milk solids or removing of the present study with those obtained by Manuelian cream to give continuity in composition and protect et al. (2017) are supportive of the adequacy of infrared consumers and the manufacturing process (Law and prediction models used in our study for the quantifica- Tamime, 2011). Thus, the cheesemaker has complete tion of mineral and fatty acid contents. control on the cheesemaking process and ripening (Law Differences reported in the literature between ORG and Tamime, 2011). However, milk standardization is and CON milk are related to several factors which are not allowed in the production of PDO cheese. To be known to affect milk quality such as feeding, breed, and sure that the cheesemaking process and the ripening stage of lactation (Schwendel et al., 2015). However, time were the same for both ORG and CON samples studies related to the evaluation of ORG and CON from each cheese type, they were collected from the products often neglect to consider other factors beyond Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 106 No. 10, 2023 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6650 Table 2. Mineral composition (mg/kg) of organic and conventional cheeses Organic cheese Conventional cheese Trait1 Median 95% CI2 Median 95% CI2 P-value Latteria n=9 n = 10 Ca 7,865 7,581–8,226 7,935 7,752–8,084 1.000 Na 6,382 5,386–7,500 6,303 5,489–7,524 0.910 P 5,838 5,015–6,512 5,937 5,709–6,430 0.570 S 1,645 1,532–1,762 1,636 1,541–1,669 0.734 K 1,065 984.1–1,142 967.3 925.5–976.4 0.004* Mg 267.1 247.2–318.8 319.0 291.5–334.0 0.098 Zn 32.25 31.43–32.89 32.60 31.87–33.07 0.250 Fe 1.63 1.26–2.16 1.14 0.94–1.41 0.020* Asiago PDO fresco n=9 n=9 Ca 7,358 6,817–7,557 7,331 6,928–7,532 0.820 Na 4,862 4,541–6,985 4,019 3,516–5,138 0.020* P 4,939 4,058–5,447 4,421 4,100–5,021 0.359 S 1,492 1,366–1,608 1,438 1,405–1,491 0.426 K 946.1 905.2–967.4 975.6 906.1–1,000 0.496 Mg 273.0 239.7–287.2 252.5 244.8–279.7 0.359 Zn 30.86 29.92–31.91 31.42 31.04–32.33 0.012* Fe 1.40 1.15–1.67 1.44 1.24–1.56 0.426 Caciotta n=8 n=8 Ca 7,324 7,065–7,937 7,314 7,095–7,649 0.742 Na 3,770 3,235–4,973 4,457 4,021–5,104 0.078 P 5,138 4,613–6,138 4,866 4,684–5,559 0.641 S 1,625 1,532–1,768 1,542 1,511–1,682 0.078 K 1,012 956.0–1,098 912.9 861.3–975.2 0.039* Mg 248.9 226.4–332.6 267.6 233.9–293.3 0.461 Zn 30.66 30.00–31.59 30.25 30.18–31.51 0.844 Fe 1.47 1.39–1.91 1.39 1.31–1.97 0.641 Mozzarella TSG n = 14 n = 14 Ca 4,358 3,848–4,951 4,185 4,059–4,379 0.079 Na 2,003 1,664–2,235 1,821 1,660–2,347 0.217 P 2,746 2,547–2,939 2,624 2,504–2,843 0.194 S 1,186 1,147–1,242 1,158 1,140–1,241 0.626 K 340.0 253.1–409.4 377.8 346.3–426.7 0.091 Mg 128.3 109.3–133.2 111.6 95.93–115.9 0.007* Zn 25.15 23.46–27.29 24.71 23.58–25.65 0.426 Fe 1.18 1.07–1.31 1.20 1.16–1.27 0.502 1 PDO = Protected Designation of Origin; TSG = Traditional Specialty Guaranteed. 2 95% CI = 95% confidence interval of the estimate. *Significant difference (P < 0.05) between gross composition of organic and conventional cheese. the farming system (Schwendel et al., 2015). A clear ex- (% or g/kg of milk) in ORG than CON milk (Butler ample is when milk fatty acid composition is evaluated, et al., 2011; Schwendel et al., 2015), whereas other ob- because the fatty acid profile responds to the farming served lower content in ORG, or no differences at all practices (e.g., high input versus low input) rather than (Schwendel et al., 2015; Średnicka-Tober et al., 2016). being the milk ORG or CON (Schwendel et al., 2015). The diversity of results related to fat content can be explained by the different breeds used by ORG (often Gross Composition non-Holstein-Friesian breeds) and CON (often Hol- stein-Friesian) farmers, the greater use of starch-based None or up to 3 traits significantly differed between concentrated and fat supplements (which increase milk the ORG and CON cheese samples and, despite be- fat content) in CON (Schwendel et al., 2015), and the ing significant, those differences represented <11%. sampling season (minimum in summer for ORG) and The literature reports contradictory results regarding year (Butler et al., 2011; Schwendel et al., 2015). In milk fat (Schwendel et al., 2015), protein (Schwendel fact, Butler et al. (2011) reported that season (winter > et al., 2015; Średnicka-Tober et al., 2016), and lactose summer), sampling year (2006/2007 > 2007/2008), and (Schwendel et al., 2015) content, which could explain the interaction category of milk × season effects were the different trends observed across the cheese types also significant for total milk fat (g/kg milk) when ana- we analyzed. Some studies reported greater fat content lyzing whole fresh milk at retail level. Moreover, those Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 106 No. 10, 2023 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6651 Table 3. Fatty acid groups (g/100 g of cheese) of organic and conventional cheeses Organic cheese Conventional cheese Trait1 Median 95% CI2 Median 95% CI2 P-value Latteria n=9 n = 10 SFA 27.35 26.81–30.09 28.07 24.67–30.25 0.910 UFA 11.06 10.72–11.64 12.19 11.09–13.86 0.074 MUFA 9.92 9.78–10.68 10.74 9.87–12.15 0.164 PUFA 1.09 0.97–1.41 1.53 1.20–1.78 0.004* n-3 0.21 0.19–0.26 0.32 0.26–0.38 0.004* n-6 0.83 0.77–0.91 0.98 0.93–1.16 0.004* Asiago PDO fresco n=9 n=9 SFA 25.00 24.12–25.53 25.32 24.34–26.06 0.496 UFA 11.12 10.81–11.52 11.69 11.29–11.98 0.074 MUFA 9.91 9.52–10.31 10.33 10.04–10.49 0.129 PUFA 1.493 1.35–1.58 1.488 1.37–1.57 0.570 n-3 0.28 0.25–0.31 0.25 0.24–0.27 0.359 n-6 0.86 0.76–0.95 0.81 0.74–0.82 0.250 Caciotta n=8 n=8 SFA 22.60 20.86–24.94 21.43 20.57–23.01 0.148 UFA 9.29 8.82–11.28 9.98 9.35–10.69 0.313 MUFA 8.48 8.11–9.97 8.71 8.35–9.35 0.547 PUFA 1.06 0.86–1.40 1.32 1.12–1.46 0.078 n-3 0.19 0.17–0.26 0.24 0.22–0.27 0.016* n-6 0.68 0.64–0.82 0.78 0.72–0.82 0.016* Mozzarella TSG n = 14 n = 14 SFA 11.86 10.95–13.41 13.24 12.85–15.09 <0.001* UFA 5.84 5.34–6.24 6.16 5.94–6.94 0.030* MUFA 5.28 4.67–5.60 5.49 5.35–6.30 0.011* PUFA 0.77 0.66–0.83 0.75 0.70–0.82 1.000 n-3 0.123 0.09–0.16 0.118 0.11–0.14 0.856 n-6 0.34 0.25–0.39 0.35 0.31–0.38 0.173 1 PDO = Protected Designation of Origin; TSG = Traditional Specialty Guaranteed. 2 95% CI = 95% confidence interval of the estimate. *Significant difference (P < 0.05) between gross composition of organic and conventional cheese. authors also observed that the interaction category of Friesian (Manuelian et al., 2022), only Fe, K, Mg, and milk × season was significant and category of milk × S content in bulk milk differed between farming system year tended to be significant, even if the main effect of for some specific months. All of which partially agrees being ORG or CON was not significant for milk protein with the limited differences detected in all 4 cheese (g/kg milk). types we investigated. López-Alonso et al. (2017) sug- gested that the ingestion of soil during grazing could Mineral Profile affect the trace element status of ORG animals, which could partially explain the greater mineral content in Regarding the mineral profile, we also obtained very ORG than CON cheese type of our study. few significant differences between the ORG and CON cheese samples. Only 1 or 2 minerals differed in each Fatty Acid Profile cheese variety. Nevertheless, those differences were greater than the ones observed for gross composition as Asiago PDO fresco did not reveled differences on they ranged from 9% (K) to 30% (Fe). The significant their fatty acid profile due to being ORG, probably difference for Zn content in Asiago PDO fresco rep- because as being a PDO cheese it should follow the resented <2%. The review of Średnicka-Tober et al. PDO guidelines. The other cheese varieties evaluated (2016) reported greater Fe content in ORG than CON significantly differed between the ORG and CON cheese milk, which agrees with our findings for Latteria cheese. samples up to 46% for fatty acid groups. In contrast, Those authors also observed similar Ca, Na, P, K, Mg, the differences for the determined individual fatty acids and Zn milk content, whereas Rodríguez-Bermúdez et were in general <11%. al. (2018) indicated a lower Zn concentration associated Milk fatty acids are the main compounds evaluated with the mineral supplementation adopted in CON in ORG milk, as they are influenced by the diet (includ- systems. Moreover, in a previous study on Holstein- ing pasture), stage of lactation, and season (Schwendel Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 106 No. 10, 2023 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6652 Table 4. Individual fatty acids (g/100 g of cheese) of organic and conventional cheeses Organic cheese Conventional cheese Trait1 Median 95% CI2 Median 95% CI2 P-value Latteria n=9 n = 10 C4:0 0.95 0.87–0.99 0.89 0.84–0.99 0.652 C6:0 0.61 0.59–0.67 0.62 0.58–0.66 0.734 C8:0 0.334 0.328–0.350 0.332 0.327–0.339 0.164 C10:0 0.90 0.89–0.92 0.87 0.82–0.89 0.027* C12:0 1.14 1.11–1.19 1.04 0.99–1.06 0.004* C14:0 3.19 3.13–3.49 3.17 3.11–3.23 0.098 C15:0 0.394 0.374–0.439 0.392 0.375–0.436 1.000 C16:0 9.22 8.82–10.19 8.95 8.67–9.22 0.004* C18:0 3.41 2.60–3.50 3.04 2.84–3.19 0.426 Asiago PDO fresco n=9 n=9 C4:0 0.83 0.79–0.87 0.85 0.79–0.87 1.000 C6:0 0.60 0.54–0.63 0.57 0.55–0.61 0.301 C8:0 0.3345 0.326–0.362 0.3336 0.328–0.350 0.910 C10:0 0.89 0.83–0.92 0.86 0.82–0.90 0.203 C12:0 1.064 1.008–1.102 1.056 1.011–1.094 0.652 C14:0 3.15 3.10–3.47 3.24 3.11–3.43 0.426 C15:0 0.37 0.35–0.40 0.36 0.34–0.39 0.230 C16:0 8.92 8.59–9.53 9.11 8.81–9.64 0.301 C18:0 3.11 2.88–3.57 3.33 2.76–3.56 0.910 Caciotta n=8 n=8 C4:0 0.83 0.73–0.89 0.75 0.74–0.80 0.039* C6:0 0.57 0.52–0.61 0.54 0.52–0.58 0.109 C8:0 0.33 0.32–0.34 0.32 0.32–0.33 0.023* C10:0 0.87 0.85–0.96 0.84 0.83–0.87 0.023* C12:0 1.04 1.01–1.18 1.01 0.99–1.04 0.055 C14:0 3.14 3.07–3.28 3.05 3.02–3.17 0.008* C15:0 0.35 0.32–0.38 0.34 0.33–0.36 0.641 C16:0 8.98 8.66–9.59 8.61 8.51–8.89 0.008* C18:0 2.72 2.55–3.12 2.83 2.67–3.23 0.313 Mozzarella TSG n = 14 n = 14 C4:0 0.49 0.47–0.55 0.54 0.53–0.56 <0.001* C6:0 0.34 0.32–0.38 0.38 0.37–0.40 0.004* C8:0 0.24 0.23–0.25 0.25 0.24–0.27 0.005* C10:0 0.51 0.47–0.54 0.55 0.54–0.63 0.002* C12:0 0.63 0.59–0.68 0.68 0.67–0.78 0.002* C14:0 2.33 2.12–2.48 2.40 2.30–2.58 0.002* C15:0 0.22 0.22–0.26 0.25 0.24–0.28 <0.001* C16:0 6.11 5.81–6.86 6.76 6.58–7.18 0.001* C18:0 2.58 2.06–3.11 2.67 2.36–3.24 0.005* 1 PDO = Protected Designation of Origin; TSG = Traditional Specialty Guaranteed. 2 95% CI = 95% confidence interval of the estimate. *Significant difference (P < 0.05) between gross composition of organic and conventional cheese. et al., 2015). It has been reported that minor dietary results in bulk milk collected in the same area where differences can modify the fatty acid profile of both the fatty acid profile was almost identical in ORG ORG and CON milk (Schwendel et al., 2015) without than CON milk (Manuelian et al., 2022). The similar- affecting the total SFA percentage (Średnicka-Tober ity of the fatty acid content is mainly related to the et al., 2016). In the current study, few differences in animals’ feeding regimens (Manuelian et al., 2022). The the fatty acid composition between ORG and CON cheese factories involved in the present study collect cheeses were observed, and the majority of those differ- milk from the wider Po Valley, where pasture is scarce ences were detected in Caciotta and Mozzarella TSG. and feeding of the lactating cows –both in ORG and In fact, Caciotta and Mozzarella TSG were the only CON– is based on a total mixed ration that includes cheese types that tended to present lower moisture con- corn meal or corn silage. The inclusion of corn, which tent in ORG than CON cheese. Moreover, Mozzarella is a C4 plant, in ORG dairy farms does not allow to TSG had lower fat content in ORG than CON cheese discriminate ORG from CON milk, because it is identi- which explains the lower amount of several individual fied using the carbon stable isotope ratio milk method and groups of fatty acids in the former than the lat- which relays on the fact that most CON farms use corn, ter. Thus, our results partially agreed with previous whereas ORG farms does not (Schwendel et al., 2015; Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 106 No. 10, 2023 Manuelian et al.: ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL ITALIAN CHEESES 6653 Inácio and Chalk, 2017). Therefore, the few differences England. J. Dairy Sci. 94:24–36. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.3168/​jds​.2010​ -3331. we detected are in line with previous studies on ORG Christie, W. W. 1993. Preparation of ester derivatives of fatty acids milk (Średnicka-Tober et al., 2016; Manuelian et al., for chromatographic analysis. Pages 69–111 in Lipid Methodology, 2022). Nevertheless, Średnicka-Tober et al. (2016) re- Volume 2. W. W. Christie, ed. Oily Press. CLAL. 2018. La Classificazione dei Formaggi. Accessed Feb. 15, 2022. ported greater n-3 and PUFA, and lower n-6 percent- https:​ / ​ / ​ w ww​ . clal​ . it/​ d ownloads/​ s chede/​ C LAL​ - Classificazione​ age in ORG milk, whereas we observed a lower content _formaggi​_italiani​.pdf. (g/100g cheese) of n-3 in Latteria and Cacciota, and of CLAL. 2022. Italia: Produzioni di Asiago DOP. Accessed Feb. 15, 2022. https:​/​/​www​.clal​.it/​?section​=​produzioni​_asiago. PUFA in Latteria. da Silva Abreu, A. C., M. F. Carazzolle, B. L. Crippa, G. R. Bar- boza, V. L. Mores Rall, L. de Oliveira Rocha, and N. C. C. Silva. 2021. Bacterial diversity in organic and conventional Minas Frescal CONCLUSIONS cheese production using targeted 16S rRNA sequencing. Int. Dairy J. 122:105139 https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.1016/​j​.idairyj​.2021​.105139. Our study of 4 different cheeses, sampled over many da Silva Cândido, T. J., A. C. da Silva, L. G. de Matos, M. da Silva months, showed that ORG and CON cheeses differed do Nascimento, C. H. Camargo, R. Cobo Zanella, V. L. Mores Rall, and N. C. Cirone Silva. 2020. Enterotoxigenic potential and slightly in terms of gross composition and mineral and molecular typing of Staphylococcus sp. isolated from organic and fatty acid contents, depending on the cheese type being conventional fresh minas cheese in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. analyzed. Asiago PDO fresco showed fewer differences Int. Dairy J. 102:104605. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.1016/​j​.idairyj​.2019​ .104605. between ORG and CON samples than Latteria, Ca- De Marchi, M., A. Costa, M. Pozza, A. Goi, and C. L. Manuelian. ciotta, and Mozzarella TSG. Nevertheless, fatty acid 2021. Detailed characterization of plant-based burgers. Sci. Rep. content differences between ORG and CON samples of 11:2049. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.1038/​s41598​-021​-81684​-9. EU (European Union). 2018. Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the Euro- Mozzarella TSG are influenced by the lower fat content pean Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic in the former than the latter. 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The use of of Padova, Padua, Italy) for feedback on the paper. unique, environmental lactic acid bacteria strains in the tradition- al production of organic cheeses from unpasteurized cow’s milk. C. L. Manuelian is currently a postdoctoral researcher Molecules 27:1097. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.3390/​molecules27031097. funded with a María Zambrano grant of the Spanish López-Alonso, M., F. Rey-Crespo, C. Herrero-Latorre, and M. Mi- Ministry of Universities (Madrid, Spain; funded by Eu- randa. 2017. Identifying sources of metal exposure in organic and conventional dairy farming. Chemosphere 185:1048–1055. https:​/​/​ ropean Union–Next Generation EU; MZ2021–86). Data doi​.org/​10​.1016/​j​.chemosphere​.2017​.07​.112. presented in this study are available free of charge from Manuelian, C. L., S. Currò, M. Penasa, M. Cassandro, and M. De the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The Marchi. 2017. Characterization of major and trace minerals, fatty acid composition, and cholesterol content of Protected Designation funders had no role in the design of the study; in the of Origin cheeses. J. Dairy Sci. 100:3384–3395. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​ collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the .3168/​jds​.2016​-12059. writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish Manuelian, C. L., V. Vigolo, S. Burbi, F. Righi, M. Simoni, and M. De Marchi. 2022. Detailed comparison between organic and con- the results. The authors have not stated any conflicts ventional milk from Holstein-Friesian dairy herds in Italy. J. Dairy of interest. Sci. 105:5561–5572. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.3168/​jds​.2021​-21465. Napolitano, F., A. Braghieri, E. Piasentier, S. Favotto, S. Naspetti, and R. Zanoli. 2010. Cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay REFERENCES as affected by information about organic production. J. Dairy Res. 77:280–286. https:​/​/​doi​.org/​10​.1017/​S0022029910000130. 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