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 of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese - Caciocavallo Palermitano is a typical stretched curd cheese 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 which wooden tools, source of inoculum of autochthonous lactic bacteria, are used. Recently, Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese is also obtained in dairy intensive farms of specialized breeds where milk is processed mainly using stainless steel equipment and commercial selected lactic ferments. The aim of this investigation was to verify the influence of cheese making process (traditional with wood tools or innovative with modern stainless steel tools and selected lactic bacteria) on qualitative characteristics of Caciocavallo Palermitano at different 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 specialized dairy breeds fed mostly hay and concentrate. Milk and cheese quality was affected by livestock system; in fact, milk from extensive farm contained more protein and casein and less fat, urea and somatic cells; then the cheese showed higher cheese yield and protein content and lower fat percentage. In addition, the colour of the cheese from extensive farm resulted more yellow, probably due to the greater transfer of beta-carotene from pasture to 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 natural lactic microflora led to a reduction in cheese yield and a production of cheese higher in fat, and with a more cohesive and yellow paste