title: Hydrocarbon and fatty acid composition of cheese as affected by the pasture vegetation type.
abstract: The determination of the geographical origin of dairy products is an ongoing issue. In this paper the effects of botanical diversity of two pastures on the hydrocarbon and fatty acid composition of cheese fat were studied, over 2 years of experimentation. Two areas in the Italian southwestern Alpine region, dominated by  Trifolium alpinum  (T) and  Festuca nigrescens  (F) vegetation, respectively, were chosen, and milk obtained from cows grazing on these pastures was used to produce a semihard traditional cheese. Cheese samples showed a significantly different composition of most linear hydrocarbons, odd-chain (C15, C17, and C17:1) and unsaturated (trans-11,cis-15-C18:2, C18:3, C20:4n-6, C20:4n-3, and 20:5n-3) fatty acids, according to pasture type. The ratio between C(29) and C(27) linear hydrocarbons, unlike the absolute content of the single molecules, showed a good discriminating ability between the two pastures and was little affected by the natural variability due to the climatic and environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: CRA - Centro di Ricerca per le Produzioni Foraggere e Lattiero-Casearie, Via A. Lombardo 11, 26900 Lodi, Italy. milena.povolo@entecra.it
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Povolo
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pelizzola
authors.forename: Giampiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tava
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Contarini
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000378:metabolism*; D002611:Cheese / Q000032:analysis*; D031751:Festuca / Q000737:chemistry*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D029921:Trifolium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons