Development of best practices at farming and processing level to optimise environmental, local and management factors, achieving more efficiency and quality of PDO cheeses
The Operative Group focus is the dairy sector, especially the enterprises involved in the production of the PDO cheeses Grana Padano and Taleggio. The project is addressed to farmers and dairy industry in order to obtain high quality cheeses, developing innovative solutions to improve the microbiological and technological quality of milk at barn and to improve as well the cheese making and the cheese ripening at dairy; in this way it is possible to guarantee the best process efficiency, highlighting the strong link to the geographical area, and to improve the profitability and competitiveness of all the actors of the supply chain.
The project activities are:
- At farm level: defining the influence of management practices on microbiological and technological quality of milk, taking into account the bedding types, the use of chlorine-based disinfectants in the milking parlour, the presence of antibiotic residuals in milk and the temperature of the milk cooler.
- At industry level: to point out innovative strategies and operative tools in order to monitor the cheese yield and to manage the cheese making and the cheese ripening of the PDO cheeses Grana Padano and Taleggio, in accordance with the procedural guidelines.
- Disseminating guidelines to the dairy sector professionals, planning events and creation of a web site.
Assessment of the milk’s microbiological quality by using different types of bedding, in order to find the type of bedding that best impacts on content of milk microorganisms, useful in cheese making process. From a microbiological point of view, the different types of bedding have specific microorganisms’ population, that interact with the microorganisms of the cow’s skin and those present in the milk. Thus, in order to imporve the microbiological quality of milk, is important to identify which are the best bedding types could improve the presence of lactic bacteria in the milk. The aim of this innovation is the improvement of the product’s final quality and the results of this activity will be used to develop guidelines, containing specific techniques, that could be applied at barn in order to improve the microbiological quality of the milk used in cheese making.
Assessment of the milk’s microbiological quality because of the presence of antibiotic residuals, to find the influence of these residuals on the microorganisms of the raw milk and of the starter. The content of antibiotics rsiduals could be a critical point in the production of cheese from raw milk, as the Grana Padano PDO. Although under the limits allowed, antibiotics could impact on the microorganisms’ population of milk and on its future development in the starter and cheese. The aim is to improve the product’s final quality and the results will be used to develop guidelines, containing specific techniques, that could be applied at barn in order to improve the microbiological quality of the milk used in cheese making.
Assessment of the milk’s microbiological quality by using chlorine-based disinfectants for cleaning the cows’ teats. The main objective is to find the disinfectant that has the best impact on the microorganisms of milk used in the cheese making. The disinfection of the cow’s teats using chlorine-based products is essential for the milk’s hygiene at farm, but it has a negative effect on the lactic bacteria of milk, which are particularly important for the cheese making process. The aim of this innovation is to improve the microbiological quality of the milk and the cheese’s final quality. The results will be used to develop guidelines, containing specific techniques, that could be applied at barn to improve the microbiological quality of the milk used in cheese making.
Assessment of the milk’s microbiological quality, of the starter and of Grana Padano PDO cheese because of the temperature of the milk cooler, to find the best storage temperature of milk. The temperature conditions of the milk will be monitor continuously through innovative tools, that could send alert messages when the temperature becomes higher than the best storage temperature. The best storage temperature of milk has positive effect on the lactic bacteria that are essential for the cheese making process. The aim of this innovation is to improve the microbiological quality of the milk and the cheese’s final quality and the results will be used to develop guidelines, containing specific techniques, that could be applied at barn to improve the microbiological quality of the milk used in cheese making.
Assessment of the milk’s microbiological quality, of the starter and of Grana Padano PDO cheese, because of using chlorine-based disinfectants in the milking parlour. The objective is to find the disinfectant that has the best impact on the microorganisms of milk used for cheese making. The disinfection of the milking parlour using chlorine-based products is essential for the milk’s hygiene at barn, but it has a negative effect on the lactic bacteria of milk, which are particularly important for the cheese making process. The aim of this innovation is to improve the microbiological quality of the milk and the cheese’s final quality. The results will be used to develop guidelines, containing specific techniques, that could be applied at barn to improve the microbiological quality of the milk used in cheese making.
Assessment of the influence that the cheese ripening conditions have on the composition and safety of the surface microbiota of Taleggio PDO, in order to find the best environmental conditions for the composition and safety of the surface microbiota. The surface microbiota is particularly important in the production of Taleggio PDO, because the ripening of the cheese depends on the microorganisms that develop on the cheese rind. The aim is to find innovative methods that investigate and compare the microbiota composition of different ripened productions, so will be possible to control an important passage for the cheese’s final quality. Moreover, the best environmental conditions for the ripening of Taleggio PDO could preserve the typical characteristics of this cheese and maintain the production in compliance with the Production Specification.
Assessment of the cheese making and ripening’s efficiency of the Grana Padano and Taleggio PDO, trough the development of equations for the indirect prediction of the cheese yield, based on quality characteristics of the milk, and trough the production of weight loss curves during the Grana Padano and Taleggio PDO ripening, trough non-linear statistical methods. The aim is to model two curves that will be used to find the aspects that impacts most on the ripening. The goal of this innovation is to improve the production’s efficiency during the cheese ripening, the efficient use of resources at dairy and the management of the costs. The results will be used to develop guidelines, containing procedures, that could be applied at dairy to improve the efficiency of production and the final quality of the cheeses.
Development of tools to monitor and improve cheese making and ripening’s efficiency. Use of the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) on milk for the prediction of the cheese making’s efficiency and the cheese weight loss during the Grana Padano and Taleggio PDO ripening, in order to develop a series of calibration curves that will provide a first assessment of milk before its insertion in the boiler. So, each dairy will have the possibility to know its cheese yield at the beginning and the end of the ripening before the cheese making process. In this way the right quantity of milk will be added in the boiler and there will be standardized cheese wheels, in compliance with the Production Specification. The use of Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) on the Grana Padano PDO rind for the prediction of the cheese yield and the cheese weight loss during the ripening. For this innovation, a portable NIR tool will be used for the precise monitoring of these values. The results will be used to develop guidelines on the tools that could be applied at dairy to improve the production’s efficiency and the final quality of the cheeses.
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