Abstract
The multi-elemental composition of three typical Italian Pecorino cheeses, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Romano (PR), PDO Pecorino Sardo (PS) and Pecorino di Farindola (PF), was determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The ICP-OES method here developed allowed the accurate and precise determination of eight major elements (Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn). The ICP-OES data acquired from 17 PR, 20 PS, and 16 PF samples were processed by unsupervised (Principal Component Analysis, PCA) and supervised (Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis, PLS-DA) multivariate methods. PCA revealed a relatively high variability of the multi-elemental composition within the samples of a given variety, and a fairly good separation of the Pecorino cheeses according to the geographical origin. Concerning the supervised classification, PLS-DA has allowed obtaining excellent results, both in calibration (in cross-validation) and in validation (on the external test set). In fact, the model led to a cross-validated total accuracy of 93.3% and a predictive accuracy of 91.3%, corresponding to 2 (over 23) misclassified test samples, indicating the adequacy of the model in discriminating Pecorino cheese in accordance with its origin.
Highlights
Pecorino cheese is an Italian dairy product obtained from raw or thermized ewes’whole milk
We evaluated the potentiality of multi-elemental composition determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) in the discrimination of three typical high added-value Italian Pecorino cheeses: two Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) specialties [2T]o, naatmteemlypPteacodriisncorRimominaantoio(nPRo)fatnhde PaebcoovrienothSraeredoty(pPiSc)a, lanPdecPoercionroincohdeieFsaersi,nadnolIaCP-OES m(PeFt)h, oindclucdoemdbbiynSedlowtoFoomdicFroouwndavatei-oanssfoisrtBedioddiviegressittyioinn thwealsistdoefvtrealdoiptieodnalafnododvtoalidated
The production territories partially overlap in the case of Pecorino Sardo (PS) and Pecorino Romano (PR) cheeses, which permits to evaluate whether different cheesemaking conditions applied to milk and other raw materials coming from the same geographical area can affect the mineral composition of Pecorino cheeses
Summary
Pecorino cheese is an Italian dairy product obtained from raw or thermized ewes’whole milk. The final peculiar taste and flavour is closely related to the cheesemaking conditions, which often reflect the local or regional know-how (kind of starters and coagulants, curd heating temperature and ripening time) adopted in the production territory. This factor, together with the origin of milk, confers to Pecorino cheese a strong geographical identity, certified in several cases by specific EU marks [2], such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG)
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