The present study aimed to assess the effect of the addition of different usually recognized as probiotic bacterial strains on chemical composition and sensory properties of Scamorza cheese manufactured from ewe milk. To define the sensory profile of Scamorza cheese, a qualitative and quantitative reference frame specific for a pasta filata cheese was constructed. According to the presence of probiotic bacteria, cheeses were denoted S-BB for Scamorza cheese made using a mix of Bifidobacterium longum 46 and Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12, and S-LA for Scamorza cheese made using Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5. The designation for control Scamorza cheese was S-CO. Analyses were performed at 15d of ripening. The moisture content of Scamorza ewe milk cheese ranged between 44.61 and 47.16% (wt/wt), showing higher values in S-CO and S-BB cheeses than in S-LA cheese; the fat percentage ranged between 25.43 and 28.68% (wt/wt), showing higher value in S-LA cheese. The NaCl percentage in Scamorza cheese from ewe milk was 1.75 ± 0.04% (wt/wt). Protein and casein percentages were the highest in Scamorza cheese containing a mix of bifidobacteria; also, the percentage of the proteose-peptone fraction showed the highest value in S-BB, highlighting the major proteolysis carried out by enzymes associated with B. longum and B. lactis strains. Texture and appearance attributes were able to differentiate probiotic bacteria-added cheeses from the untreated control product. In particular, S-BB and S-LA Scamorza cheeses showed higher color uniformity compared with S-CO cheese. Furthermore, the control cheese showed higher yellowness and lower structure uniformity than S-BB. The control product was less creamy and grainy than S-BB; conversely, the inclusion of probiotics into the cheese determined lower adhesivity and friability in S-BB and S-LA than in S-CO. This study allowed the definition of the principal composition and sensory properties of Scamorza ewe milk cheese. The specific quantitative vocabulary for sensory analysis and reference frame for assessor training also established in this study should be implemented to systematically monitor the quality of this new typology of ewe milk cheese.

Garganica goat milk was characterized for protein composition and the impact of milk protein mixture, casein and β-lactoglobulin fraction on cytokine production by cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells from infants with cow's milk protein allergy. Bulk milk samples were collected in a dairy goat farm located in the Gargano area (Southern Italy), cow milk was used as control. Ten patients with cow's milk protein allergy (6 males; mean age 8.4 ± 6.4 months) and ten non-allergic control subjects (6 males; mean age 7.4 ± 3.1 months) were consecutively included in the study. Although the amount of total casein was comparable in cow and goat milk (56.08% vs. 55.33%, respectively) the distribution of principal casein fractions was different according to species. α-CN on total casein was more than 50% both in raw and pasteurized cow milk whereas it was always lower than 40% in goat milk and an opposite trend was observed for β-CN. Production of tumor necrosis factor-α after exposure to goat milk casein and β-lactoglobulin was lower than after exposure to the same fractions from cow milk. Goat milk induced higher levels of regulatory interleukin-10 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells than cow milk. Results on tumor necrosis factor-α evidenced that it is important to test the immune reactivity against each protein fraction before considering goat milk as a safe substitute for feeding infant with cow's milk protein allergy.

Lamb rennet pastes containing encapsulated Lactobacillus acidophilus and a mix of Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium lactis were produced for Pecorino cheese manufacture from Gentile di Puglia ewe milk. Cheeses were denoted as RP cheese when made with traditional rennet paste, RP-L cheese when made with rennet paste containing L. acidophilus culture, and RP-B cheese when made with rennet paste containing a mix of B. lactis and B. longum. Biochemical features of Pecorino cheese were studied at 1, 15, 30, 60, and 120 d of cheese ripening. The effect of encapsulation and bead addition to rennet acted on a different way on the viability of probiotic. Lactobacillus acidophilus retained its viability for 4 to 5 d and then showed a fast reduction; on the other hand, B. longum and B. lactis experienced kinetics characterized by an initial death slope, followed by a tail effect due to acquired resistance. At 1 d of ripening, the levels of L. acidophilus and bifidobacteria in cheese were the lowest, and then increased, reaching the highest levels after 30 d; such cell loads were maintained throughout the ripening for L. acidophilus, whereas bifidobacteria experienced a decrease of about 1 log cfu/g at the end of ripening. Enzymatic activities and biochemical features of cheeses were influenced by the type of rennet used for cheesemaking. Greater enzymatic activity was recorded in RP-L and RP-B cheese due to the presence of probiotic bacteria released from alginate beads. A positive correlation was found between enzymatic activities and water-soluble nitrogen and proteose-peptone in RP-B and RP-L cheeses; water-soluble nitrogen and proteose-peptone were the highest in RP-B. Principal component analysis distinguished RP-L from the other cheeses on the basis of the conjugated linoleic acid content, which was higher in the RP-L due to the ability of L. acidophilus to produce conjugated linoleic acid in the cheese matrix.

The effect of type of lamb rennet paste and of encapsulated probiotics in the rennet on the maturing process of Pecorino cheese was studied. Different types of rennet paste were obtained from lamb fed artificial milk, or artificial milk with Lactobacillus acidophilus, or artificial milk with a mix of Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium lactis; moreover aliquots of these rennets were added with encapsulated cells of L. acidophilus or of a mix of B. longum and B. lactis. Experimental rennet pastes with and without encapsulated probiotics were used for the production of Pecorino cheese characterized for the proteolytic and lipolytic pattern at 120 days of ripening. High probiotic viability in cheese ripened at 120 d sustained the proteolytic process, in particular probiotic strains influenced peptidase activities and free amino acid profile of Pecorino cheese.Lipolysis in cheese seemed to be influenced greatly by the enzymatic pattern carried out by rennet paste.

ABSTRACT Immune competence of the ewe mammary gland was investigated by monitoring the leukocyte differential count, the cytokines pattern and the endogenous proteolytic enzymes in milk samples with different SCC and pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, the leukocyte differential count and T lymphocyte populations were evaluated in ewe blood. A total of 1,500 individual milk samples were randomly selected from the pool of the samples collected during sampling and grouped into five classes, of 300 samples each, on the basis of SCC. Classes were: SC300 (< 300,000 cells/mL); SC500 (from 301,000 to 500,000 cells/mL); SC1000 (from 501,000 to 1,000,000 cells/mL); SC2000 (from 1,001,000 to 2,000,000 cells/mL) and SC>2000 (> 2,001,000 cells/mL). Microbiological analyses of ewe milk were conducted to detect mastitis related pathogens. Sheep whose udders were without clinical abnormalities, and whose milk was apparently normal but with at least 103 cfu/ml of the same pathogen were considered to have subclinical mastitis and therefore defined as infected. PMNL and macrophages increased with SCC whereas lymphocytes decreased. Milk samples with SCC > 1,000,000 cells/mL showed differences in leukocyte populations between uninfected and infected ewes with higher percentages of PMNL and macrophages and lower percentages of lymphocytes in infected animals. Non-viable PMNL levels were the highest in ewe milk samples with SCC < 300,000 cells/mL; starting from SCC > 500,000 cells/mL non-viable PMNL were higher in uninfected ewes than in infected ones. In infected animals giving milk with SCC > 1,000,000 cells/mL a higher CD4+/CD8+ ratio was observed suggesting that the presence of pathogens induced an activation of both CD4+ and CD8+. The level of TNF-α and IL-12 resulted higher in infected rather than uninfected ewes, irrespective of SCC. Plasmin activity increased along with SCC and was always higher in infected rather than uninfected animals; cathepsin D increased starting from SC2000 in milk samples from non-infected ewes and starting from SC500 in milk samples from infected animals. This research evidenced the utility to study the associations between somatic cells, cytokines, endogenous proteolytic enzymes and pathogenic bacteria to better understand the pathogenesis of subclinical mastitis in ewes and their effect on the immune response of ewe mammary gland.

The present study was undertaken to produce functional Scamorza cheese from Gentile di Puglia ewe milk by incorporating probiotic strains into the cheese matrix and to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of Scamorza ewe milk cheese. Gentile di Puglia ewe bulk milk was used for Scamorza cheese production. Cheeses were denoted S-CO for control Scamorza cheese, S-BB for Scamorza cheese made using a mix of Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium lactis, and S-LA for Scamorza cheese made using Lactobacillus acidophilus as probiotic strain. Cheeses were analyzed at 1, 7, and 15 d of ripening. Probiotic cell recovery in cheese was 7.55 ± 0.07 log10 cfu/g and 9.09 ± 0.04 log10 cfu/g in S-LA and S-BB cheese, respectively; probiotic cheeses also displayed the highest levels of lactic microflora. Reverse-phase HPLC chromatograms of the water-soluble nitrogen fraction showed a more complex profile in S-BB, with distinctive peaks in the early-eluting zone. The matured Scamorza cheese containing the mix of B. longum and B. lactis was characterized by significantly higher levels of Gln, Ser, Arg, Ile, and Leu, whereas cheese containing Lb. acidophilus was characterized by higher levels of Tyr and Met. Total FFA content was the highest in S-LA, intermediate in S-BB, and the lowest in S-CO cheese; in particular, Scamorza cheese containing Lb. acidophilus showed the highest level of vaccenic acid, oleic acid, and total conjugated linoleic acid. Probiotic bacteria survived through the technological phases of pasta filata cheese production, maintained their specific metabolic pathways, and conferred functional properties to Scamorza ewe milk cheese.