Effetto del sistema di allevamento e della tecnologia di caseificazione sulla qualità del caciocavallo palermitano.

Effects of livestock system and cheese making technique on the quality ofCaciocavallo Palermitano cheese - Caciocavallo Palermitano is a typical stretched curdcheese produced in the Central and Western Sicily. It is traditionally obtained from whole milk of indigenous cows breeds and by the original cheese making technology in whichwooden tools, source of inoculum of autochthonous lactic bacteria, are used. Recently,Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese is also obtained in dairy intensive farms of specializedbreeds where milk is processed mainly using stainless steel equipment and commercialselected lactic ferments. The aim of this investigation was to verify the influence of cheesemaking process (traditional with wood tools or innovative with modern stainless steel toolsand selected lactic bacteria) on qualitative characteristics of Caciocavallo Palermitano atdifferent ripening time (1, 30, 60 and 120 d) obtained from milk of two livestock systems,an extensive system of local cows breeds fed at pasture and an intensive system of specializeddairy breeds fed mostly hay and concentrate. Milk and cheese quality was affected bylivestock system; in fact, milk from extensive farm contained more protein and casein andless fat, urea and somatic cells; then the cheese showed higher cheese yield and proteincontent and lower fat percentage. In addition, the colour of the cheese from extensive farmresulted more yellow, probably due to the greater transfer of beta-carotene from pastureto milk. The quality of cheese was also significantly influenced by cheese making process;indeed, traditional technology based on the use of wooden tools and the action of naturallactic microflora led to a reduction in cheese yield and a production of cheese higher in fat,and with a more cohesive and yellow paste